Quantification of phenolic compounds by capillary zone electrophoresis in extracts of four commercial types of mate herb before and after acid hydrolysis

► Capillary zone electrophoresis was used to quantify phenolic compounds in mate herb. ► Acid hydrolysis was optimized using multivariate statistical techniques. ► Before hydrolysis, high amounts of rutin were detected. ► After hydrolysis, caffeic acid and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid were detected. ► The method of capillary zone electrophoresis was very fast, only 4 min.