Determination of barakol extracted from Cassia siamea by HPLC with electrochemical detection.

Barakol is an active compound extracted from the leaves and flowers of the plant called Cassia siamea grown widely in Southeast Asia. There have been a number of reports on the chemical structure and properties of this compound since it was first extracted in 1969. The compound has been tested in various laboratories for its pharmacological properties with reference to the clinical use of the plant in traditional Thai medicines. For these studies it is necessary to establish the stability of the extracted barakol under various laboratory conditions. This report is the first to use high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection to determine the extent of purity and stability of extracted barakol solution.