HPLC-DAD in identification and quantification of selected coumarins in crude extracts from plant cultures of Ammi majus and Ruta graveolens

This paper describes a method for the separation and determination of selected coumarins and furanocoumarins in the crude extracts from plant tissue cultures of Ammi majus hairy roots and Ruta graveolens cell suspensions, cultured in vitro, separately or together as co-cultures. The usefulness of the three main components of the eluent used in reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic analysis, namely: methanol (MeOH), acetonitrile (ACN), and tetrahydrofuran (THF), and different elution programs, was assessed. In the optimal analytical method a Lichrospher(R) RP-18e 5-mum column, a THF-MeOH elution gradient, and a UV/VIS DAD detector were used. Due to the presence of many different compounds in the investigated plant extracts, the use of a UV/VIS DAD detector was essential. Coumarins were identified by comparison of their UV spectra with those of the analytical standards, and characterization of peak purity.