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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » Natural Products Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #297986
Title: Quantitative determination of a-Arbutin, ß-Arbutin, Kojic acid, nicotinamide, hydroquinone, resorcinol, 4-methoxyphenol, 4-ethoxyphenol and ascorbic acid from skin whitening Products by HPLC-UV

Author
item WANG, YAN-HONG - University Of Mississippi
item AVONTO, CRISTINA - University Of Mississippi
item AVULA, BHARATHI - University Of Mississippi
item WANG, MEI - University Of Mississippi
item RUA, DIEGO - University Of Mississippi
item KHAN, IKHLAS - University Of Mississippi

Submitted to: Journal of AOAC International
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/29/2014
Publication Date: 1/15/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/62343
Citation: Wang, Y., Avonto, C., Avula, B., Wang, M., Rua, D., Khan, I.A. 2015. Quantitative determination of a-Arbutin, ß-Arbutin, Kojic acid, nicotinamide, hydroquinone, resorcinol, 4-methoxyphenol, 4-ethoxyphenol and ascorbic acid from skin whitening Products by HPLC-UV. Journal of AOAC International. 98(1):5-12.

Interpretive Summary: Development of an analytical method for the simultaneous determination of multifarious skin whitening agents will provide an efficient tool to analyze skin whitening cosmetics. In the present manuscript, an HPLC-UV method for qualitative analysis of nine whitening agents was found to be capable of giving base line separation of all analytes. The sample preparation method was justified according to evaluation of analytes’ stability at different pHs. Total 59 different types of skin lightening products were analyzed, and distribution of topical whitening agents in skin lightening products from the U.S. market was summarized.

Technical Abstract: Development of an analytical method for the simultaneous determination of multifarious skin whitening agents will provide an efficient tool to analyze skin whitening cosmetics. An HPLC-UV method was developed for quantitative analysis of six commonly used whitening agents, a-arbutin, ß-arbutin, kojic acid, nicotinamide, resorcinol and ascorbic acid, along with three regulated agents hydroquinone, 4-methoxyphenol and 4-ethoxyphenol from skin whitening products in a single run. The separation of nine compounds was achieved on a reverse phase C18 column material within 30 minutes. The mobile phase was composed of water and methanol, both containing acetic acid. The column temperature was maintained at 45 'C. The stability of the analyte was evaluated at different pH values between 2.3 and 7.6, and the extraction method was validated for different types of products. Twenty mM NaH2PO4 in 10% methanol (MeOH/water = 10:90, v/v) at pH 2.3 proved to be the best solvent system for sample preparation. The method was validated for accuracy, limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ). The developed HPLC-UV method was successfully applied for the quantitation of nine analytes from 59 different types of skin lightening products including creams, lotions, sera, foams, gels, mask sheets, soap bars, tablets and capsules.