Abstract:

Objective: To establish an efficient method for simultaneously detecting both of monascine and ankaflavine in monascus pigments by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods: With the self-made pigments as reference substances, monascine and ankaflavine were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed adopting SHIM-PACK HRC-ODS C18 column and methanol-water (80:20, V/V) mixture as mobile phase under the condition of flow rate 1.0 ml/min and detection wavelength 394 nm. Results: The method has a good linear relationship in the range of 10 to 500 mg/L. The regression equation of monascine is Y = 0.00015x + 0.82365 with the determination coefficient of 0.99988, and the regression equation of ankaflavine is Y = 0.00031x－0.45 with the determination coefficient of 0.99987. Their relative standard deviations are both less than 4%. The detection results of monascine and ankaflavine contents in monascus pigment products collected from some companies in China by this method are satisfying. Conclusion: This method has a good reproducibility and stability, and can be used for detection of monascine and ankaflavine and analysis of compositions and quality of monascus pigment products.

Key words: high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), detection, monascine, ankaflavine