The Extraction and Determination of Ellagic Acid Content in the Peels of Six Iranian Pomegranates Cultivars Using a New Miniaturized Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersion Method

Abstract

Background and Aim:The peels of six Iranian pomegranates (Punica granatum L.) cultivars, as a traditional medicine, were treated with a new miniaturized matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) method for the HPLC determination of ellagic acid (EA). Materials and Methods:In the proposed method, only 10mg of the sample powder was ground and blended with an equal amount of C18 sorbent in an agate mortar. The use of the agate mortar with smooth surface facilitated the sample transfer into a cartridge and reduced the required amount of sample and sorbent. Micro volumes of dichloromethane, n-hexane and methanol were used as modifier, washing and elution solvents, respectively. The eluate was injected into an HPLC-UV system for the analysis. Results:Several factors such as the type and amount of dispersing sorbent, modifier, washing solvent and eluent were carefully studied and optimized. Six replicated analyses at the optimized conditions resulted in a recovery of 96.7% and a relative standard deviation of 5.87%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of EA in the peels samples. Conclusion:According to the ultimate results, the MSPD method is an efficient technique for the quantitative extraction of EA from the peels of pomegranate. Malas cultivar has the highest amount (18.1 g kg-1) of ellagic acid content compared to the other studied pomegranate cultivars.