Recent Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis in the Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicines

Airong      Feng; Bolin      Tian; Jiming      Hu; Ping      Zhou

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) are generally mixtures of herbal plants or extracts which comprise hundreds of different constituents with widely difference in the content and physiochemical properties. In order to analyze bioactive compounds in TCMs and control the quality, a large number of analytical tools have been developed, among which capillary electrophoresis (CE) has become a powerful technique with increasing importance. Some formats of CE, including capillary zone electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, non-aqueous CE and capillary electrochromatography have been widely employed for the analysis of TCMs. The general characteristics of these formats are briefly described, and their applications to the analysis of TCMs during the past five years are summarized.

Keywords: Herbal medicines, capillary electrophoresis, natural products, thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, capillary zone electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, non-aqueous CE, capillary electrochromatography, electro osmotic flow, background electrolyte, Kuan donghua, Ephedrae herba, Ephedra sinica, Flos Lonicerae, Cynanchum chinense, Mangifera persiciformis, Sang-Xing Decoction, Herba Epimedii, Stamen nelumbinis, Achillea millefolium, Aristolochic acids, Hedyotis diffusa, Garcinia atroviridis, Magnolia officinalis, Ligulariopsis shichuana, Dendrobium candidum, Rhizoma coptidis, Electrokinetic capillary chromatography, Scutellariae radix, Acanthopanax senticosus, Ligustrum lucidum, Tinospora capillipes, Uncaria rhynhcophylla, Caulis sinomenii, Caulis mahoniae, Macleaya cordata, Rhizoma chuanxiong, Adinandra nitida