Determination of taxifolin in Polygonum orientale and study on its antioxidant activity

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed to determine taxifolin in Polygonum orientale. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Lichrospher ODS column. The mobile phase consisted of CH3OH–0.3%CH3COOH (35:65, v/v) with a flow-rate of 0.8 mL/min. The chromatographic peak area was linear to the concentration of taxifolin in the range of 5.0–100 μg/mL with a detection limit of 0.23 μg/mL. Good recovery results were also obtained with the range of 97.4–101.2%. In addition, radical scavenging capacity of taxifolin was studied by means of 1,1-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl free radical. The IC50 value was 4.11 μmol/L, which indicated that taxifolin had a very potent antioxidant activity.