Qualitative and quantitative estimation of phytosterols in Achyranthes aspera and Cissus quadrangularis by HPLC

Reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with UV detector was done for the analysis of four naturally occurring phytosterols of Achyranthes aspera and Cissus quadrangularis. The separation of filtered plant extracts as well as a mixture of authentic standard phytosterols samples of Campesterol, Stigmasterol, β-Sitosterol, Stigmastanol was done within 25 min. Running conditions included: injection volume 10µl; mobile phase: acetonitrile: water (50:50) containing 3% water, flow rate 1 ml/min; and detection at 205nm. Identifications of specific phytosterols are made by comparing their retention times with those of the standards. Three phytosterols in Achyranthes aspera namely Campesterol, Stigmasterol, β-Sitosterol and two phytosterols namely Campesterol, Stigmasterol in Cissus quadrangularis were detected by HPLC.