Planta Med 2010; 76 - P98
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1251860

Development of a Comprehensive NPxRP System for the Characterization of Stevia rebaudiana

F Cacciola 1, 2, P Delmonte 1, K Jaworska 1, L Mondello 2, JI Rader 1
  • 1Office of Regulatory Science, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, US Food and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy, HFS-717, College Park, MD 20740, USA
  • 2Dipartimento Farmaco-chimico, Facoltà di Farmacia, Università di Messina, viale Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy

A comprehensive NPxRP system in combination with ultraviolet detection has been developed for the analysis of active components in Stevia rebaudiana extracts. Stevia rebaudiana is a perennial shrub of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family native to certain regions of South America (Paraguay and Brazil). Stevia plant material and extracts are used as sweeteners. The most common approach for the separation of Stevia compounds is normal phase chromatography. However, reversed phase chromatography might also be useful for the separation of phenolic compounds and flavonoids occurring in these matrices.

The Stevia extract was separated using a polyamine column in normal phase mode for the first dimension separation, and a UHPLC octadecylsiloxane (C18) reversed phase column for the second dimension separation. The use of a UHPLC system in the second dimension of an LCxLC separation was successfully employed for the separation of polyphenolic antioxidants and glycosides detected in Stevia rebaudiana. Stevia rebaudiana components were identified by MS/MS/MS spectra using a QTRAP mass spectrometer.