Determination of flavonoid aglycones in several food samples by mixed micellar electrokinetic chromatography

The application of mixed micellar electrokinetic chromatography to the separation of ten flavonoid aglycones (catechin, epicatechin, naringenin, morin, fisetin, quercetin, kaempferol, galangin, apigenin, and chrysin) belonging to four different classes (flavanols, flavanones, flavonols, and flavones), and expected to be prominent in commonly consumed foods, has been developed. A micellar system composed of 25 mM SDS and 25 mM sodium cholate buffered at pH 7.0 provided a simultaneous separation of all compounds in less than 20 min. The procedure could be easily adapted to the determination of some flavonoids from each of these classes in real complex samples (propolis, Ginkgo biloba, etc.). The LODs of these compounds were in the range of 1.2-4 microg/mL, and the peak area and migration time repeatabilities were below 6.0 and 3.1%, respectively.