Application of Capillary Electrophoresis to the Analysis of Bioactive Compounds in Herbal Raw Materials

Abstract

The article is a summary of scientific reports from the last 16 years (2005–2021) on the use of capillary electrophoresis to analyze polyphenolic compounds, coumarins, amino acids, and alkaloids in teas or different parts of plants used to prepare aqueous infusions, commonly known as “tea” or decoctions. This literature review is based on PRISMA guidelines and articles selected in base of criteria carried out using PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study type). The analysis showed that over 60% of articles included in this manuscript comes from China. The literature review shows that for the selective electrophoretic separation of polyphenolic and flavonoid compounds, the most frequently used capillary electromigration technique is capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection. Nevertheless, the use of capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry allows for the sensitive determination of analytes with a lower limit of detection and gives hope for routine use in the analysis of functional foods. Moreover, using the modifications in electrochemical techniques allows methods sensitivity reduction along with the reduction of analysis time.

Analytical Methods for Exploring Nutraceuticals Based on Phenolic Acids and Polyphenols

“…Capillary electrophoresis (CE) can also be used owing to the ionizable nature of polyphenols. For instance, the phenolic content of herbal, fruit, or vegetable extracts has been determined using different CE modes such as capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), capillary isotachophoresis (CITP), and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) [61][62][63][64][65].…”

Advances and strategies for capillary electrophoresis in the characterization of traditional Chinese medicine: A review of the past decade (2011–2021)

“…Studies in the last decade have examined and reviewed the status of capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the separation, subsequent determination, quantitation, and quality control of TCMs (Table 1). CE and CE-mass spectrometry (MS) have attracted research attention (Ma et al, 2018;Gackowski et al, 2021;Przybylska et al, 2021), as detailed in our search discussed in the following sentences. In particular, CE has played a vital role in TCM analysis as a reliable and sensitive analytical tool; thus, CE is a suitable platform for TCM identification, separation, and quality control.…”

Sensitivity enhancement in capillary electrophoresis and their applications for analyses of pharmaceutical and related biochemical substances

“…A new in‐line coupling of a miniaturized boronate affinity monolithic column with RP silica monolithic for the analysis of cis ‐diol‐containing nucleoside compounds was illustrated with a LOD of 50 ng/mL for uridine [73]. The separation efficiency of alkaloids and limonoids in plant materials was performed in in‐house packed monolithic columns (methyl‐vinylimidazole functionalized organic polymer monolilth) in 10 mM ammonium acetate buffer (pH 4.0) and 50% acetonitrile in 15 min [74]. Monolithic column materials offer great advantages as chromatographic media in bioseparation and as solid supports in biocatalysis.…”