Phenanthrenes are bioactive phenolic compounds found in genus Dioscorea, in which they are distributed more in peel than in flesh. Recent studies on phenanthrenes from Dioscorea sp. peels have revealed the potential for valuable biomaterials. Herein, an analytical method using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for quantitation of bioactive phenanthrenes was developed and validated. The calibration curves were obtained using the phenanthrenes (1-3) previously isolated from Dioscorea batatas concentrations in the range of 0.625-20.00 μg/ml with a satisfactory coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.999. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) values of the isolated phenanthrenes ranged from 0.78-0.89 and 2.38-2.71 μg/ml, respectively. The intraday and interday precision ranged from 0.25-7.58%. The recoveries of the isolated phenanthrenes were from 95 to 100% at concentrations of 1.25, 2.5, and 5.0 μg/ml. Additionally, phenanthrenes (1-3) were found in all investigated peel extracts. Hence, the developed method was encouraging for the quantitative analysis of phenanthrenes in genus Dioscorea.
Keywords: Dioscorea; HPLC; method validation; phenanthrenes; quantitative analysis; yam.