Optimization and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatography method for the analysis of cardiac glycosides in Digitalis lanata

In this study, a simple and reliable HPLC method for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of cardiac glycosides in Digitalis lanata Ehrh. raw material was developed and applied to healthy and phytoplasma-infected plants. The target analytes cover a broad range of secondary metabolites, including primary, secondary and tertiary glycosides and the corresponding aglycones. The sample preparation was carried out by sonication of the plant material with 70% (v/v) aqueous methanol at room temperature, followed by reversed-phase solid-phase extraction purification from interfering pigments. The HPLC analyses were performed on a Symmetry C18 column (75 mm × 4.6 mm I.D., 3.5 μm), with a gradient elution composed of water and acetonitrile, at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column temperature was set at 20 °C and the photodiode array detector monitored the eluent at 220 nm. The method was validated with respect to ICH guidelines and the validation parameters were found to be highly satisfactory. The application of the method to the analysis of D. lanata leaves indicated that air-drying was the optimum method for raw material processing when compared with freeze-drying. The analysis of healthy and phytoplasma-infected plants demonstrated that the secondary metabolite mainly affected by the pathogen presence was lanatoside C (153.2 μg/100 mg versus 76.1 μg/100 mg). Considering the importance of D. lanata plant material as source of cardiac glycosides, the developed method can be considered suitable for the phytochemical analysis and for the quality assurance of D. lanata used for pharmaceutical purpose.