Determination the content of quercetin and kaempferol in male flowers of Corylus heterophylla Fisch.

[Objective] To establish an HPLC method for determining the content of quercetin and kaempferol in male flowers of Corylus heterophylla Fisch. [Method] A HPLC analysis was performed on a Diamonsil C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with the detection wavelength at 360 nm. Following the injection of sample solution, an elution with methanol-0.4% phosphoric acid (V/V, 50∶50) as mobile phase was initiated at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. [Result] The quercetin showed a good relationship in the range of 0.022 to 0.658 μg/ml (r=0.999 9). The average recovery of quercetin was 99.4% with the RSD of 0.73%. The kaempferol showed a good relationship in the range of 0.012 1 to 0.362 0 μg/ml (r=0.999 9). The average recovery of kaempferol was 100.4% with the RSD of 1.49%. The content of quercetin in C. heterophylla male flower was 0.35 to 0.58 mg/g and that of kaempferol ranged from 0.174 to 0.512 mg/g. [Conclusion] The method is simple and rapid with a good reproducibility, which can be used to determine the content of quercetin and kaempferol in C. heterophylla male flower.