Fast high performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet–visible quantification of principal phenolic antioxidants in fresh rosemary

An improved HPLC method is reported for the determination of rosemaryʹs principal phenolic antioxidants, rosmarinic and carnosic acids, providing a fast and simultaneous determination for both of them by using a solid phase column. The analysis was performed with fresh methanolic extractions of Rosmarinus officinalis. To quantify the amount of antioxidants in a fast and reproducible way by means of UV–vis absorption measurements, a spectrophotometric multi-wavelength calibration curve was constructed based on the antioxidant contents obtained with the recently developed HPLC method. This UV–vis methodology can be extended to the determination of other compounds and herbs if the restrictions mentioned in the text are respected.