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Simultaneous Detection of Glabridin, (−)-α-Bisabolol, and Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate in Whitening Cosmetic Creams Using HPLC-PAD

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Abstract

A simultaneous analytical method was developed and validated to quantify three lipophilic compounds; namely glabridin (an isoflavonoid isolated from crude licorice), (−)-α-bisabolol (a sesquiterpene alcohol obtained from plant extracts), and ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate (a fat-soluble molecule derived from vitamin C) in functional cosmetic cream using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photodiode array detection (PAD). Cosmetic cream samples were extracted with a mixture of acetonitrile and isopropyl alcohol (45:55, v/v) and the target compounds were separated on a C18 column with a gradient mobile phase consisting of deionized water, acetonitrile, and isopropyl alcohol. The detector wavelengths were 228, 202, and 221 nm, for glabridin, (−)-α-bisabolol, and ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, respectively. The calibration curves showed good linearity with determination coefficients (R 2) ≥ 0.999. The mean recoveries were ranged between 89.8 and 103.9 % with relative standard deviations (RSDs) <5 %. The intra- and inter-day precision was <2 %. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0.03, 0.4, and 4.02 μg mL−1 for glabridin, (−)-α-bisabolol, and ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate, respectively. The method was successfully applied for monitoring 11 market samples, in which glabridin was quantified in the range of 17.5–25 mg 100 g−1, (−)-α-bisabolol in the range of 25.1–677 mg 100 g−1, and 140.6–291.5 mg 100 g−1 for ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate. The proposed analytical method is simple, sensitive, and versatile and can be used for the quantification of lipophilic compounds in cosmetics in a single chromatographic run.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment (Suwon city, Republic of Korea).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Research Division, Gyeonggi Province Institute of Health and Environment, 95, Pajang cheon-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon-Si, Gyeonggi province, 440-290, Republic of Korea

    Jong-Sup Jeon, Han-Taek Kim, Myeong-Gil Kim, Moon-Seog Oh, Se-Ra Hong & Mi-Hye Yoon

  2. Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Nuengdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-701, Republic of Korea

    Ho-Chul Shin & A. M. Abd El-Aty

  3. Biotechnology Research Institute, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Yongbong-ro 77, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 500-757, Republic of Korea

    Jae-Han Shim

  4. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 12211, Egypt

    Nehal Aly Afifi & A. M. Abd El-Aty

  5. Department of Medical Pharmacology, Medical Faculty, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey

    Ahmet Hacımüftüoğlu

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  1. Jong-Sup Jeon
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  2. Han-Taek Kim
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  3. Myeong-Gil Kim
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  4. Moon-Seog Oh
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  11. A. M. Abd El-Aty
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Correspondence to Jong-Sup Jeon or A. M. Abd El-Aty.

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Jeon, JS., Kim, HT., Kim, MG. et al. Simultaneous Detection of Glabridin, (−)-α-Bisabolol, and Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate in Whitening Cosmetic Creams Using HPLC-PAD. Chromatographia 79, 851–860 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-016-3104-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-016-3104-2

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