Analysis of Flavonoids by HPLC

Abstract

During the past ten years there has been a dramatic increase of interest in the field of flavonoid chemistry. This was mainly due to the application of HPLC to the study of flavonoids. These compounds, natural plant constituents with a structure based on the aromatic heterocycle, 3-phenylbenzopyrone, are ideally suited for analysis by HPLC. The basic complex structure can be varied by the number and position of hydroxyl substituents and other derivatives (sugars, methyl). These variations cause changes in the way the compounds react to solvents and columns commonly used in HPLC allowing separation and identification.