High-performance liquid chromatography of carthamin, safflor yellow A and a precursor of carthamin. Application to the investigation of an unknown red pigment produced in cultured cells of safflower.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method was developed to analyse and purify carthamin, safflor yellow A (safflomin-A) and the yellow precursor of carthamin. A red pigment similar to carthamin was extracted from cell suspension cultures of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) as an application of biotechnology. The RP-HPLC method was used to characterize the unknown red pigment. Various spectroscopic methods were used to characterize purified carthamin and the purified unknown pigment. Based on these spectral observations, it was concluded that the unknown red pigment produced in cultured cells of safflower differed from carthamin, although the unknown pigment might be a glycoside. From other observations, the possibility of anthocyanins and carotenoids were also discounted. It was assumed that the cultured cells lacked the biosynthetic pathway of the yellow precursor of carthamin, although they possessed the activity of the enzyme mediating the synthesis of carthamin from the yellow precursor.