ANALYSIS OF TAXOL, 10-DEACETYLBACCATIN-III AND RELATED-COMPOUNDS IN TAXUS-BACCATA

A method is described for the analysis of taxol and related taxanes in the foliage of Taxus spp. such as T. baccata. The method has been opt imised for recovery and analysis of a range of taxanes of differing po larity, namely: taxol, cephalomannine, baccatin III and 10-deacetylbac catin III (10-DAB-III). Measured recoveries for all these compounds ge nerally exceeded 84%. The reversed-phase high-performance liquid chrom atography system developed uses a ''sterically protected'' C-8 column, and allowed analysis of the components of interest with minimum inter ference from co-extracted compounds. Typical detection limits for rout ine operation were in the range of 1-10 mg/kg depending on the compone nt and the particular sample. Analysis of test samples of T. baccata h ave shown variations in taxol concentrations in the range 7-510 mg/kg and of 10-deacetylbaccatin III in the range 52-1185 mg/kg.