Rapid assessment of β-asarone content of Acorus calamus by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

This report outlines a rapid, reproducible method for the determination of β‐asarone, a known carcinogen, using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC)‐UV‐vis absorbance and a simple alcohol extraction. The MEKC method is based on a running buffer comprised of 100 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), pH 10. The method is reproducible and provides baseline separation of α‐asarone and β‐asarone. This protocol was used to determine the β‐asarone content of Acorus calamus rhizome of a diploid variety harvested from the wetlands of the United States and the triploid variety from India obtained commercially. The results indicate raw product that originated from India contained 4.4% w/w β‐asarone, while that from the United States contained 0.2% w/w β‐asarone. Neither sample contained detectable concentrations of α‐asarone. This is the first report of the use of MEKC to determine asarone in a natural source.