The sensitive capillary electrophoretic-LIF method for simultaneous determination of curcuminoids in turmeric by enhancing fluorescence intensities of molecules upon inclusion into (2-hydroxypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin.

Curcuminoids have received great attention in the past decades due to their health benefit properties. The aim of this study is to develop a very simple, rapid, and sensitive capillary zone electrophoresis technique coupled with a laser induced fluorescence detector (LIF) for the simultaneous determination of three major curcuminoids of turmeric, namely, curcumin, demethoxy curcumin (DMC), and bisdemethoxy curcumin (BDMC). Background electrolyte was selected as borate at pH 9.6 and (2-hydroxypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin (2-HP-β-CD) was added to prevent rapid alkali degradation of curcuminoids in buffer and to increase fluorescence intensities of molecules. With the addition of 2-HP-β-CD to the separation electrolyte, the fluorescence signal intensities of curcuminoids were enhanced considerably by 30, 40, and 54 fold for curcumin, DMC, and BDMC, respectively. The three curcuminoids of turmeric were fully separated and quantified in less than 4.5 min. The repeatability of the peak areas of curcuminoids for intra-day and inter-day experiments was in the satisfactory range of 2.26 and 2.55%, respectively. The LOD and LOQ values for the developed method were equal to or less than 0.081 and 0.270 μg/mL, respectively, for all curcuminoids. The developed method was successfully applied to find curcuminoids amount in turmeric samples and herbal supplements.