Abstract
Propolis is important in complementary and alternative medicine having well-known therapeutic applications. Artepillin C, a main component of Brazilian (green) propolis, has attracted great attention for its anticancer action. Consequently, the synthesis of artepillin C has been reported but, due to the limited yield and elevated costs, this biomolecule is largely produced from Brazilian propolis. We report the capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation of artepillin C in Brazilian propolis also comparing the results with those of HPLC-UV-MS. Optimal separation was obtained with a simple buffer constituted of sodium tetraborate 30 mM pH 9.2 and detection at 210 nm. Artepillin C and the polyphenols of propolis were fully separated with a voltage gradient of 30 to 8 kV and a current of 300 μA for a total run of 50 min. The sensitivity of CE-UV was 22 times greater than HPLC-UV and 100 times more than HPLC-MS with also a stronger reduction in the run time and a greater robustness and reproducibility. The development of CE as an effective and reliable method for the analysis of artepillin C is desired as the standardized quality controls are essential before propolis or its biomolecules can be adopted routinely in nutraceuticals, food ingredients and therapeutic applications.
DC Fault Identification in Multiterminal HVDC Systems Based on Reactor Voltage Gradient
