FLAVONOIDS DETERMINATION IN HERBS BY GC AND GC/MS

Careful examination of the bioflavonoids and their products in biological systems is very important. There is an ever-increasing interest in the biological effects of the bioflavonoids, members of the large group of plant polyphenols. Combination of mass spectrometry with the various chromatographic methods has proved to be highly successful in this regard. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method was developed for the determination of various flavonoids in herb extracts. Different extracts from Orthosiphon stamineus B e n t h. by using fifteen different solvents were analysed and compared. The extracts were separated on a Rtx-5MS capillary column, 15 m x 0.32 mm, 0.25 mu m film thickness, in a temperature program from 50 to 310 degrees C for flavonoids characterisation without derivatisation. The alcoholic extracts were the best solvents, especially methanol and isopropanol.