Abstract:

Objective: To develop a method for simultaneous separation and determination of catechin, epicatechin, quercitin,
kaempferol and myricetin in tea. Methods: High performance capillary zone electrophoresis was used. Results: Catechin,
epicatechin, quercitin, kaempferol and myricetin could be effectively separated and determined within 14 min in a running
buffer solution (pH 9.11) containing 10 mmol/L Na2B4O7, 5 mmol/L β-CD and 8% (v/v) acetonitrile with the applied voltage
of 20 kV, capillary temperature of 25 ℃ and detector wavelength of 200 nm. The relative standard deviation and recovery
of the proposed method for these five compounds in tea were below 4.0% and in the range of 95%-105.6%, respectively.
Conclusion: This method possesses the advantages of simple operation, rapid determination, high reproducibility and wide
detection range. It can be used for the determination of catechin, epicatechin, quercitin, kaempferol and myricetin in tea.

Key words: capillary electrophoresis, catechin, epicatechin, quercitin, kaempferol, myricetin, tea