Abstract
An analytical method using HPLC with UV detection was developed to investigate the
quassinoid content of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Simaroubaceae) collected from various sources. Eurycomanone (1), longilactone (2), 14,15β-dihydroxyklaineanone (3), 15β-acetyl-14-hydroxyklaineanone (4), 6α-hydroxyeurycomalactone (5), and eurycomalactone (7) were isolated as reference standards and together with the synthesized 1β,12α,15β-triacetyleurycomanone
(6, internal standard), were identified by NMR, MS, UV and IR spectroscopies. Their
coefficient of variation values for 0.50-35 µg ml-1 concentrations of quassinoids and their retention times measured within- and between-day
were small. The recoveries of the spiked quassinoids in E. longifolia samples and their detection limits at 8.5 times signal to noise ratio were 99.75-109.13%
and 0.01 µg ml-1, respectively. From the root samples analysed, 1 had the highest concentration, being about 16.8-39.6 fold higher than the other quassinoids
2, 3, 5, 7 but 145.3 fold higher than 4 which showed the lowest concentration.
Key words
Eurycoma longifolia
- Simaroubaceae - quassinoids analysis - HPLC-UV
