Quantitative analysis of eugenol in clove extract by a validated HPLC method

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Pharmacognosy
• Natural Product Chemistry

Background:

• Clove (Eugenia caryophyllata) is a medicinal plant with eugenol as its primary active component.
• Eugenol is crucial for quality control (QC) and chemical evaluation of clove products.
• Accurate quantification of eugenol is essential for ensuring the quality and safety of clove-derived products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detection (HPLC-DAD) method for determining eugenol in clove.
• To assess the eugenol content in clove samples from different geographical origins.
• To establish a reliable analytical method for the quality assurance of clove.

Main Methods:

• HPLC separation using an XTerra RP18 column with a mobile phase of 60% methanol.
• Detection was performed using a Diode Array Detector (DAD) at 280 nm.
• Method validation included linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), and precision (intraday and interday).

Main Results:

• The HPLC-DAD method demonstrated excellent linearity (r2 > 0.9999) within the tested range (12.5-1000 ng/mL).
• The method achieved low LOD (0.81 ng/mL) and LOQ (2.47 ng/mL) with high precision (%RSD < 1.19%).
• Eugenol content in analyzed clove samples varied significantly (163-1049 ppb), indicating differences based on origin.

Conclusions:

• The developed HPLC-DAD method is accurate, precise, and suitable for the quantitative determination of eugenol in clove.
• This method provides a reliable tool for the quality and safety assessment of clove and its products.
• Significant variations in eugenol content highlight the importance of geographical origin in clove quality.