Study of Tocopherols Homologue in Needle of Pinus tabulaeformis Carr by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

An HPLC method for separating tocopherol homologues using petroleum ether extraction mixed column purification pretreatment technique and methanol elution with in C₁₈ column has been established. Results showed that the content of a,g and d-tocopherols are 5.40 ± 0.25, 1.18 ± 0.03 and 221.17 ± 20.15 mg/kg, respectively, in Longnan pinus needle and 3.16 ± 0.35, 3.09 ± 0.14 and 89.93 ± 22.76 mg/kg, respectively, in Tianshui pinus needle. The recovery rate is 74.6- 89.7 % and the RSD is 1.5-5.6 %. The method is suitable for the homologous determination of tocopherols in samples of green plants, especially for the quantitative determination of easily oxidizable and low content tocopherols. The development of this method provides a theoretical basis for the understanding of the function and the application of Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.