DETERMINATION OF ARTEMISININ AND ARTEMISINIC ACID BY CAPILLARY AND PACKED SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Artemisinin (an antimalarial compound) and its bioprecursor artemisini c acid, present in the plant Artemisia annua L., were analyzed by supe rcritical fluid chromatography (SFC) using capillary and packed column s, coupled respectively with a flame ionization detector (FID) and an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD). Both methods were optimi zed and validated with columns of different polarity in order to separ ate artemisinin and artemisinic acid, Analytical results were comparab le, but the packed SFC-ELSD method was faster, Indeed, artemisinin and artemisinic acid were separated with an aminopropyl silica column in less than 8 minutes instead of about 25 minutes by capillary SFC, Cont rary to conventional gas and liquid chromatography coupled to an UV-vi sible detector, SFC methods determined both compounds directly, withou t degradation and/or derivatization in the concentration range expecte d in the plant material, Results obtained on plant extracts by capilla ry SFC-FID and packed SFC-ELSD were confirmed by GC-MS.