Simultaneous and rapid determination of main lignans in different parts of Schisandra sphenanthera by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography.

Lignans are imporant active ingredients of Schisandra sphenanthera. A micellar electrokinetic chromatography method was developed for the simultaneous determination of eight lignans--schizandrin, schisandrol B, schisantherin A, schisanhenol, anwulignan, deoxyschizandrin, schizandrin B and schizandrin C--in different parts of S. sphenanthera. The key factors for separation and determination were studied and the best analysis conditions were obtained using a background electrolyte of 10 mM phosphate-37.5 mM SDS-35% v/v acetonitrile (pH 8.0) at the separation voltage of 28 kV and detection at 214 nm, whereby the plant samples could be analyzed within 9.0 min. Analysis yielded good reproducibility (RSD between 1.19-2.28%) and good recovery (between 92.2-103.8%). The detection limits (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were within 0.4-1.2 mg/L and 1.5-4.0 mg/L. This method is promising to improve the quality control of different parts of S. sphenanthera.