Abstract:

Objective: To establish a method for the determination of hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) in medical and edible
petals of safflower flowers by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods: The HSYA in the safflower
flowers was extracted by microwave-assisted extraction, chromatographically separated using gradient elution and analyzed
by HPLC. The separation was performed on Sino Chrom ODS-BP column (4.6 mm × 200 mm, 5 μm) using methanol-0.5%
acetic acid as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The analyte was detected at 403 nm. Results: The calibration
curve had good linear relationship in the range of 5.25–80.32 μg/mL for safflower yellow A (r = 0.999 9). The spiked
recoveries were 101.0%–103.6%, with relative standard deviation (RSD) not exceeding 2.27%. Conclusions: The method
was simple and accurate with good repeatability and could be used for the determination of hydroxysafflor yellow A in
foods, health products, and compound medicinal preparations.

Key words: safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), hydroxysafflor yellow A, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gradient elution