Determination of the Content of Xanthophyll Cycle Components in Leaves of Medicago sativa L. by HPLC

Purpose To provide an effective method which can accurately determine xanthophyll cycle components, violaxanthin (V), antheraxanthin (A) and zeaxanthin (Z) in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) leaves.

Methods Under high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, the content of xanthophyll cycle components in alfalfa leaves was determined and the experimental method was validated.

Result The content of xanthophyll cycle components was around 3-100 μg/mL and it had good linear relationship with the peak area, the correlation coefficients of V, A and Z were r=0.999 49, r=0.999 61 and r=0.999 60, respectively. The RSD of precision (n=5), stability (n=7) and reproducibility (n=3) of V, A and Z were 0.96%, 3.33% and 0.48%; 0.39%, 1.42% and 3.98%; 0.87%, 1.86% and 2.59%, respectively.

Conclusion This method is efficient with high precision, reproducibility, stability and high recovery which makes it suitable for determine xanthophyll cycle components in alfalfa leaves.