HPTLC and reverse phase HPLC methods for the simultaneous quantification and in vitro screening of antioxidant potential of isolated sesquiterpenoids from the rhizomes of Cyperus rotundus

Three sesquiterpenoids solavetivone, aristolone and nootkatone were isolated from the acetone extract of Cyperus rotundus by silica gel column chromatography and identified by spectral studies. Solavetivone has been isolated for the first time from the species. Simple, sensitive and selective HPTLC and HPLC methods with ultraviolet detection (245 nm) were developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification. HPTLC method was validated in terms of their linearity, LOD, LOQ, precision, accuracy and compared with RP-HPLC-UV method. Among the three sesquiterpenoids isolated, nootkatone possessed the highest radical scavenging potential (IC50 4.81 μg/ml) followed by aristolone (IC50 5.28 μg/ml) and solavetivone (IC50 6.82 μg/ml) by DPPH radical scavenging assay. Total antioxidant activity against phosphomolybdenum reagent was also studied. The methods described in this paper were able to identify and quantify sesquiterpenoids from the complex mixtures of phytochemicals and could be extended to the marker based standardization of polyherbal formulations containing C. rotundus.

► We identified three sesquiterpenoids, solavetivone, aristolone and nootkatone from the rhizomes of Cyperus rotundus.
► The sesquiterpenoid solavetivone, a vetispirane sesquiterpenoid, has been identified for the first time from the species.
► HPTLC and HPLC quantification was done for the isolated sesquiterpenoids.
► In vitro antioxidant and radical scavenging potential were screened.
► Nootkatone possessed the highest antioxidant potential among them.