Determination of flavones in Crataegus pinnatifida by capillary zone electrophoresis.

A capillary electrophoretic method for the separation of four flavones in Crataegus pinnatifida is developed. The four flavones in Crataegus pinnatifida are separated on baseline within 15 min using 50mM borax buffer containing 15% acetonitrile and adjusted to pH 8.15 with phosphoric acid. The detection limits of vitexin-2"-rhamnoside, hyperside, rutin, and vitexin are 0.35, 0.30, 0.40 and, 0.29 microg/mL, respectively. The recovery of these flavones is as follows: vitexn-2"-rhamnoside 96.8%, hyperside 99.9%, rutin 97.1%, and vitexin 97.8%. The results are in accordance with those obtained in the high-performance liquid chromatography system. The content of flavones is higher in Crataegus pinnatifida leaves than in its fruits, and hyperside is not detected in either Crataegus pinnatifida fruits or flowers.