Abstract:

Coumarins from the leaves of eight sympodial bamboo species (Dendrocalamus farinosus, Bambusa
rigida, Bambusa vulgaris, Bambusa textilis, Bambusa chungii, Dendrocalamus strictu, Dendrocalamus giganteus,
and Dendrocalamus brandisii) were extracted with ethanol-water (80:20, V/V) using a microwave-assisted method.
A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for separating and determining ten coumarin standards
including skimin, scopolin, scopoletin, umbelliferone, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, coumarin, psoralen, xanthotoxin,
5,7-dimethoxycoumarin, and pimpinellin was developed and used to analyze the coumarins extracted from the leaves of
sympodial bamboo. Relative standard deviations (RSD) of peak area were below 3.47% in five consecutive tests and repeated
tests during three days. A total of five coumarins were detected at contents ranging from 2.07 to 67.54 mg/kg. The maximum
amount of total coumarins was found in Bambusa vulgaris with content of 103.77 mg/kg, while the minimum amount of
27.32 mg/kg was found in Dendrocalamus farinosus. The contents of total coumarins in the leaves of four Bambusa species
were obviously higher than in four Dendrocalamus species.

Key words: sympodial bamboo, bamboo leaves, coumarins, high performance liquid chromatography