Determination of Bioactive Flavonoids in Rhododendron Dauricum L. by Capillary Electrophoresis with Electrochemical Detection

A method based on capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection (CE-ED) has been developed for the determination of bioactive flavonoids in the traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Rhododendron dauricum L. The effects of working electrode potential, pH and concentration of running buffer, separation voltage and injection time on CE-ED were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the analytes could be separated in a 70 mmol L^?1 borate buffer (pH=9.2) within 20 min. A 300 μm diameter carbon disk electrode has a good response at + 0.90 V (vs. SCE) for all analytes. The response was linear over three orders of magnitude with detection limits (S/N = 3) ranging from 2 × 10^?8 g mL^?1 to 2 × 10^?7 g m^?1 for the analytes. The method has been successfully applied for the analysis of real sample, with satisfactory results.