Sesquiterpene lactones in Arnica montana: a rapid analytical method and the effects of flower maturity and simulated mechanical harvesting on quality and yield.

A rapid extraction, clean-up and RPLC procedure suitable for routine quantitative analyses of sesquiterpene lactones (SLs) in Arnica montana is described. Seven SLs were isolated of which tigloyl and methacryloyl esters of helenalin made up over 50 % of the total. This method was applied to analyses of replicated samples of different flower parts, different stages of flower maturity, and herb from different harvest methods.

Echinacea standardization: analytical methods for phenolic compounds and typical levels in medicinal species.

A proposed standard extraction and HPLC analysis method has been used to measure typical levels of various phenolic compounds in the medicinally used Echinacea species. Chicoric acid was the main phenolic in E. purpurea roots (mean 2.