Determination of coumarin in methanol extract of cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia Blume) using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

Coumarin is a component of natural flavourings including cassia, which is widely used in foods and pastries. The toxicity of coumarin has raised some concerns and food safety authorities have set a maximum limit of 2 mg/kg for foods and beverages in general. An efficient method for routine analysis of coumarin is liquid chromatography with diode array detection. In this work, we determined coumarin levels in methanol extract of cassia cinnamon. Reversed-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (1100-HPLC system), using Phenomenex RP 18e (5 I¼m) 250 mm column as stationary phase, was selected as the method of analysis. A mixture of acetonitrile: 0.5% (v/v) acetic acid in water (25:75) at flow rate 1 mL/min was used as mobile phase. Detection was done at 278 nm. Using such conditions, retention time for coumarin was 10.4 minutes. The recovery was 99.708%. LOD and LOQ were 0.623 I¼g/mL and 1.889 I¼g/mL, respectively. Mean concentration of coumarin in cinnamon bark extract was 916.71 mg/kg.