Chemical profiling of Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum Cass.) extracts by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography.

This manuscript reports on the first CE-method suitable for analyzing twelve pharmacologically relevant compounds (flavonoids, caffeic acids and leontopodic acid) in the aerial parts of Leontopodium alpinum. By using a 60mM borax buffer containing 25mM SDS and 35% acetonitrile the analytes could be well resolved in 25min and accurately determined in different Edelweiss specimens. Method validation assured the compliance of the assay to ICH standards (correlation coefficients ≥0.999, LOD ≤7.2μg/ml, LOQ ≤23.0μg/ml, recovery rates from 96.6 to 101.1%, intermediate precision ≤7.01%, and repeatability ≤5.52%). The quantitative results revealed a strong dependence of the content of phenolics on the growth status of the plants. In early stages no flavonoids were found, while during blooming all metabolites reached higher levels; commercially cultivated plant material showed the overall highest values (flavonoids: 0.25-0.34%, caffeic acids: 4.99-6.21%, leontopodic acid: 4.21-5.05%).