High pressure liquid chromatographic determination of xanthomegnin in grains and animal feeds.

A high pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is described for the determination of xanthomegnin in grains and mixed animal feeds at levels ranging from 150 to 1200 ng/g. This is equivalent to actual amounts of xanthomegnin injected on the HPLC system at from 15 to 120 ng/injection. Xanthomegnin is extracted with chloroform and 0.1M phosphoric acid. An aliquot of the crude extract is purified by column chromatography using a commercially available silica gel cartridge. Xanthomegnin is then separated from the remaining interferences by HPLC with a reverse phase C-8 column, and subsequently determined by absorbance detection at 405 nm. Elapsed time for the method from initial extraction to final HPLC determination is approximately 1 h. Recoveries of xanthomegnin added to grains and animal feeds at levels from 150 to 1200 ng/g averaged 82% with a coefficient of variation of 10.2%.