[Determination of naphthoquinones in tissue cultured Zicao]

A simple, sensitive and accurate method for the separation and determination of the naphthoquinones, deoxyshikonin (I), acetylshikonin (II) and beta-beta-dimethylacrylshikonin (III) in tissue cultured Zicao is described. The sample solution was applied at a point 1 cm from the bottom edge of the TLC silica gel plate (10 x 15 cm). A mixture of n-hexane-acetone-chloroform-glacial acetic acid (13:0.3:0.2:0.05 v/v) was used as the developing solvent. The plate was saturated for 30 min and then developed twice for 15 cm using ascending technique. The spots were scraped off and extracted with CHCl3, then determined spectrophotometrically. The standard curve was linear in the range of 0.65-2.25 micrograms for the naphthoquinones. The method has been applied to the analysis of different samples. This method can be used for the quality control of naphthoquinones in tissue culture products.