Rohanizah Abdul Rahim
1, Nor Hazwani Ahmad
1, Khaldun Mohammad Al Azzam
2,3*, Ishak Mat
41 Advanced Medical & Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 13200 Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
2 Preparatory Year Department, Al-Ghad International Colleges for Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
3 Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
4 Unit Kanser MAKNA-USM, Advanced Medical & Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 13200 Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
Abstract
Purpose: To determine and quantify vinblastine in different
varieties of Catharanthus roseus using
reversed-phase HPLC method.
Methods: The liquid chromatographic separation was performed
using a reversed phase C18, Microsorb - MV column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 µm) at room temperature and
eluted with a mobile phase containing methanol – phosphate buffer (5 mM, pH
6.0) – acetonitrile with different proportion gradient elution at a flow rate
of 2.0 mL min-1 and detection
at 254 nm.
Results: The HPLC method was utilized for the quantification
of vinblastine in purple, red and white varieties of Catharanthus roseus leaves. The separation was achieved in less
than 8 min. The peak confirmation was done based on the retention times and UV
spectra of the reference substance. The method was validated with respect to
linearity, precision, recovery, limit of detection and quantification. Results
showed that the purple variety gives 1.2 and 1.5 times more vinblastine
concentration compared to the white and pink varieties, respectively.
Conclusion: The obtained results from different varieties are
thus useful for the purpose of vinblastine production from Catharanthus roseus plant.