ABSTRACT
Hua-Khao-Yen-Tai (Dioscorea membranacea Pierre) has mostly been used as ingredient in Thai traditional anticancer preparations. The rhizome of D. membranacea was found potently cytotoxic and possibly contributed to such a therapeutic effect. Bioassay-guided isolation was used for the discovery of a selective novel cytotoxic compound, dioscorealide B. The objective of this research is to develop the method for quantitative analysis of dioscorealide B from extracts of Hua-Khao-Yen-Tai by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-UV detection (HPLC-UV). The separation was performed on a C18 column by stepwise gradient elution with water and acetonitrile system. Chromatographic separations were achieved at room temperature. The UV detector was used to detect the peak of dioscorealide B with the fixed wavelength at 270 nm. In the selected optimal experimental conditions, the dioscorealide B exhibited a well-defined chromatographic peak with a retention time at 21.93 min. Regression equation showed good linear relationship between the peak area of marker and its concentration. The recovery was 101.35%. The repeatability (1.06%RSD) and intermediate precision (1.23%RSD) indicated that the method is suitable for quantitative analysis.