Simultaneous quantification by HPLC of the phenolic compounds for the crude drug of Prunus serotina subsp. capuli.

Context: Prunus serotina Ehrenb. subsp. capuli (Cav.) McVaugh (Rosaceae), commonly known as "capulin", is a native North American tree, commercialized and used in folk medicine for the treatment of the hypertension, gastrointestinal illnesses, and cough.

Objective: This work developed a suitable HPLC method for quantifying the major active constituents of the infusion of P. serotina, the most important preparation consumed by populations around the world.

Materials And Methods: The analytical method was performed using a Fortis-RP column (150 mm × 4.6 mm; film thickness 5 µm). The mobile phase consisted of an isocratic acetate buffer solution (pH 2.7; A) and methanol (B) (65:35 v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1).

Results: The proposed method was applied to the quantification of 1-3 in several samples of the leaves of P. serotina. The results indicated that amounts of 1-3 in the samples analyzed are uniform, and greater amounts of chlorogenic acid (2; 479.9 ± 33.6 µg g(-1), dry matter) along with hyperoside (1; 185.7 ± 55.3 µg g(-1), dry matter) were present. On the other hand, benzaldehyde (3; 118.2 ± 12.1 µg g(-1) dry matter) was found to be in lower concentration.

Conclusions: A simple, sensitive, precise, and reproducible HPLC method for the simultaneous quantification of 1-3 in P. serotina was developed and validated. This is the first report on the quantification of 1-3 as active principles, and compound 1 was selected as a marker of P. serotina, which could be useful to guarantee the quality of the crude drug and herbal products.