Efficient capillary electrophoretic analysis of anthraquinones and phenolic acids in functional foods using a novel...

This study for the first time applies a deep eutectic solvent-in-deep eutectic solvent microemulsion system as the separation medium in microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography to effectively separate an detect multiple components in Cassia seeds. The optimal experimental conditions obtained via single-factor experiments and response surface methodology are as follows: The concentration of menthol-n-octanol was 0.30%, the concentration of choline chloride-ethylene glycol is 0.60%, and the pH value is 8.49. The microemulsion contains 2% SDS and 10 mM borax. The proposed method demonstrates an excellent linear relationship, with all correlation coefficients (R²) above 0.999. The calculated detection limits and quantification limits are 0.5940-1.8987 μg/mL and 1.9802-6.3291 μg/mL, respectively. The recovery results are good, ranging from 90.68% to 107.07%. The proposed method enables the effective detection of anthraquinones and phenolic acids in food matrix, demonstrating its superior environmental friendliness and practical applicability.