Development and validation of simple isocratic high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLCUV) method for determination of safflower yellow in Carthamus tinctorius (L.)-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC)

Abstract

Carthamus tinctorius L. (safflower) is the traditional plant that is widely used in many regions around the Asia, including Thailand. With many reported biological activities, our group decided to formulate the cosmeceutical containing the florets extract of the plant. For enhancing the bioavailability of absorption of substances from its florets, the special carrier; nanostructured lipid carriers or nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) was used. The simple isocratic high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) method for determination of safflower yellow, which is the main constituent in the florets, was developed and validated to determine the potency of the formulated products. Cold methanol precipitation technique was used to extract unentrapped safflower from the wax matrix of NLC. For HPLC analysis, 60% methanol was used as a mobile phase with 1 ml/min flow rate, detected by UV detector at 401 nm. Accuracy and precision of the developed method was determined over the concentration range of 5 to 100 ppm. Specificity of the method was confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS). Linear range of the analysis was found in the concentration ranged of 5 to 100 ppm safflower yellow. Lower limit of detection and quantitation were 1.4 and 4.1 ppm, respectively. The developed method will be useful in the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industry applications concerning NLC containing safflower extract. © 2011 Academic Journals.