Phenolic fingerprint of peppermint leaves

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography procedure is propos ed for the determination of 10 phenolic compounds (eriodictyol 7-O-rutinosi de, eriodictyol 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-rutinoside, luteolin 7-O-glucos ide, hesperetin 7-O-rutinoside, apigenin 7-O-rutinoside, rosmarinic acid, 5 ,6-dihydroxy-7,8,3',4/-tetramethoxyflavone, pebrellin and gardenin B) in pe ppermint. The chromatographic separation was achieved using a reversed-phas e Spherisorb ODS 2 (5 mum particle size; 25.0x0.46 cm) column. Of the sever al extractive solvents tried, ethanol was the best for qualitative and quan titative analysis. Best resolution was obtained using a gradient of water-p hosphoric acid (999:1) and acetonitrile. Fourteen samples were subjected to quantification and showed a common composition pattern. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.