High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of quercetin and isorhamnetin in rat tissues using β-glucuronidase and acid hydrolysis

Quercetin is a plant polyphenol which is present in the diet as an aglycone and as sugar conjugates. Despite potent vasodilatory and antioxidant effects in vitro, destruction by intestinal organisms has been assumed to limit its nutritional relevance in the rat. However, we have refined extraction techniques using β-glucuronidase followed by acid hydrolysis. Following this with HPLC methodology with post-column derivatisation, we have detected significant concentrations of quercetin and its metabolite, isorhamnetin, in tissues of rats maintained on quercetin-rich diets. Percentage recoveries are greater than 95% and intra-batch variation does not exceed 7% suggesting that the method may be useful in further studies of the biological role of this flavonoid.