Simple and sensitive method for determination of glycoalkaloids in potato tubers by high-performance liquid chromatography with chemiluminescence detection

A novel, simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of the potato glycoalkaloids, α-solanine and α-chaconine, based on the chemiluminescent reaction of tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) has been developed. The calibration graph was linear in the range of 5 ng/ml–10 μg/ml for both α-solanine and α-chaconine. The detection limits of α-solanine and α-chaconine were 1.2 and 1.3 ng/ml, respectively. This method was successfully applied to a potato tuber sample without cleanup, pre-concentration, and derivatization steps. The recoveries (mean ± standard deviation, %) of α-solanine and α-chaconine spiked in tuber pith at 10 μg/g (n = 6) were 101.0 ± 4.4% and 103.6 ± 7.1%, respectively.