Estimation and Comparison of Amount of Organic Acids from Dried Leaves of Garcinia cambogia, Garcinia indica, Garcinia xanthochymus, and Garcinia morella by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Background: Pharmacological properties of (-)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA) derived from plants are extensively investigated for preventing lipid storage and controlling appetite. The Garcinia species is most sought out species to recover (-)-HCA. Objectives: Organic acids from dried leaves of Garcinia cambogia, Garcinia indica, Garcinia xanthochymus, and Garcinia morella were extracted and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Materials and Methods: Oven-dried leaves of the four plant samples were subjected to Soxhlet water extraction and further acid extraction. After evaporation, the residue was mixed with 50 ml, 30% orthophosphoric acid. 20 mu L of the sample was injected to a reversed-phase C 18 column under gradient elution solvent containing 0.2 M sodium sulfate with a pH of 2.5 adjusted with dilute H2SO4. At a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min, reading was taken using ultraviolet detection at 215 nm. Chromatograms of (-)-HCA, lactone, and citric acid were obtained for standards and the samples. Results: The amount of (-)-HCA, lactone, and citric acid in the dry leaves of G. cambogia was estimated at 7.95%w/w, 3.25%w/w, and 0.13%w/w, respectively. In G. indica, the components were estimated at 5.71%w/w, 3.21%w/w, and 0.07%w/w, respectively. In the dry leaves of G. xanthochymus, it was estimated at 0.02%w/w, 0.06%w/w, and 0.18%w/w. In G. morella, it was estimated at 0.0%w/w, 0.01%w/w, and 0.29%w/w. G. cambogia and G. indica have high amounts of (-)-HCA and lactone in samples of dried leaves. (-)-HCA and lactone are absent in G. morella. Higher amounts of citric acid were found in the leaves of G. morella.