RP-HPLC Determination of Phenylalkanoids and Terpenoids in Rhodiola rosea and Identification by LC-MSD-TOF

The genus Rhodiola (Crassulaceae) consists of nearly 200 species and among them Rhodiola rosea L. is the best known [1]. The plant is indigenous to the arctic regions of eastern Siberia, but also found in the northern parts of Europe, northern eastern Canada and Alaska [1]. It is commonly known as golden or arctic root. Intensive research on Rhodiola has been performed, resulting in the isolation of several classes of compounds [1]. Commercial R. rosea extracts are usually standardized for the content of ‘salidrosides’ and ‘rosavins’ [1]. An HPLC method permitting the simultaneous determination of 14 compounds of R. rosea was developed. A separation was achieved within 35 minutes by using C-18 column material, a water/acetonitrile, both containing 0.05% phosphoric acid gradient system and a separation temperature of 53°C. The method was validated for linearity, repeatability, limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ). The developed method was applied to the determination of 14 compounds for two different species of Rhodiola and commercial extracts of Rhodiola rosea. Acknowledgements: This research is funded in part by “Botanical Dietary Supplements: Science-Base for Authentication” funded by Food and Drug Administration grant number FD-U-002071-07. References: [1] Markus G, et al. (2001) Chem. Pharm. Bull., 49(4): 465–467.

Fig. 1 HPLC Chromatograms of a mixture of standard (A), commercial extracts of Rhodiola rosea (B, C) and Rhodiola sachalensis (D) at 205 nm