A High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for the Determination of Artemisinin in Artemisia annua L. Leaf Extracts

Abstract

A simple, sensitive, accurate and precise high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for determination of artemisinin in crude plant material was developed and validated. Optimal separation of artemisinin from matrix components in the plant extracts was achieved using a Waters XTerra® RP18, 5 μm, 250 × 4.6 mm column, maintained at 40 °C, a mobile phase consisting of 0.05 M potassium phosphate buffer, pH 6.0 - acetonitrile (60:40) containing 5 mM hexane sulfonate in isocratic flow. The mobile phase flow rate was 1.0 ml/min while elution was monitored at 216 nm. The method satisfied the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) validation criteria for linearity, accuracy, precision and sensitivity. The developed method is applicable in routine quality control of Artemisia annua crude extracts.

Key words: Artemisia annua, artemisinin content, crude extract