Isolation and Quantitative Analysis of a Bioactive Polyphenol - Catechin in Anacardium occidentale Linn. (Leaves and Testa) by HPLC Analysis

The present paper reports a method developed for isolation, characterization, structural elucidation and quantitative analysis of bioactive polyphenol - Catechin, from extracts of leaves and testa of Anacardium occidentale Linn (Cashew). Isolation of Catechin was carried out by Preparative TLC. The isolated Catechin was characterized by P-NMR, MS, IR spectroscopy and various chemical and chromatographic analysis. The method was established by using HPLC analysis and quantitation of isolated Catechin with marker Catechin. The purity of isolated Catechin was found to be 99.30% based upon the comparison of peak purity and peak areas of isolated Catechin and marker Catechin.

The HPLC separation system consisted of a C18 reversed-phase column, an isocratic elution system of methanol-water (9:1 v/v), and a UV-Visible detector with 254nm as the detection wavelength. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were found to be 0.2 μg and 0.6 μg respectively with an Rt value of 2.5 min.

The maximum amount of Catechin was found in aqueous extract of leaves (5.70%) and testa (13.65%).

Thus the developed HPLC method is rapid and simple technique for separation and determination of Catechin from extracts of A.occidentale leaves and testa. The method can be suitably applied for determination of Catechin from various plant extracts.