Separation of blackcurrant anthocyanins by capillary zone electrophoresis

The four major anthocyanins present in juice of the blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) may be completely separated by capillary zone electrophoresis under strongly acidic conditions. The separation, resolution and peak shapes of the anthocyanins are critically influenced by the pH of the running buffer and the presence of an organic solvent. Fused-silica and polyacrylamide-coated capillary columns were evaluated for their ability to resolve the closely migrating analytes. Optimum qualitative separation was achieved on a fused-silica capillary with a phosphate running buffer containing 30% (v/v) acetonitrile at an apparent pH of 1.5. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.