Detecting centellosides in pegaga extract via high performance liquid chromatography

A chemical investigation of pegaga or Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. was performed via the Reversed Phased-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC). The mobile phase was modified from the Malaysian Herbal Monograph. Instead of utilizing a non-acidified mixture of water and acetonitrile, this work involved an aqueous solution of formic acid (0.3%), with similar organic solvent. The chromatograms were recorded, and four major peaks were observed in the stepwise gradient. These signals represent four individual constituents, suggestive of the pentacyclic triterpenoids, including madecassoside (1), asiaticoside (2), madecassic acid (3), and asiatic acid (4). More experiments should be carried out to understand the elution of the pegaga’s compounds. It is hoped that all the plant parts could be sustainably participated in the chromatographic analysis, for the pharmaceutical research and development of the metabolites.