Simplex-centroid design and Derringer's desirability function approach for simultaneous separation of phenolic...

Honeydew honeys have been under-evaluated about their major phenolic compounds, especially Mimosa scabrella Bentham (bracatinga) honeydew honey. In this work, a fast and robust chromatographic method was optimized for simultaneous separation and quantification by HPLC/DAD of 18 phenolic compounds detected in bracatinga honeydew honey. A simplex-centroid design, central composite rotatable design and response surface-desirability function simultaneous optimization of Derringer and Suich were used, evaluating the mobile phase composition, flow rate and oven temperature to separate all the peaks. These multivariate procedures were efficient in determining the optimal separation conditions, using peak pair resolutions and run time as responses. The 18 peaks were separated in 25 min and the mobile phase gradient started with 1.6% MeOH, 3.3% ACN, 1.0% THF and 94.1% formic acid 0.1% changing to 10.0% MeOH, 33.3% ACN, 6.0% THF and 50.7% formic acid 0.1%, oven temperature of 33 °C and flow rate of 0.73 mL min^-1. The method was validated according to Eurachem guidelines and considered accurate and robust. It was applied to 18 bracatinga honeydew honey samples in which 9 phenolic compounds were identified and quantified.