A Simple and Rapid HPLC-UV Method for the Determination of Umckalin, as an Herbal Marker, in the Cough Syrup of Pelargonium Extract

A rapid and simple high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with UV detection for the quantitation of umckalin, as an herbal marker, in Pelargonium extract cough syrup has been developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a reverse phase Phenomenex®-C18 column (5 µm, 25 cm × 0.5 mm i.d.) using a mixture of acetonitrile and phosphoric acid (pH 2.5), in 25:75 (v/v) ratio, as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min under ambient conditions and with UV detection at 310 nm. The method, applied for umckalin quantitation, showed good linearity over the concentration range of 0.334 –1.667 µg/mL, with a correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.9996. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of umckalin were found to be 0.0344 and 0.1031 µg/mL, respectively. In addition, the developed HPLC method showed acceptable values of repeatability and intermediate precision and indicated high levels of method accuracy. Simplicity and validity of the method make it highly reliable and especially suitable for routine quality control analysis.