DETERMINATION OF GALLIC ACID IN LONGAN FRUITS BY HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to determine the content of gallic acid in the different parts of longan fruits. HPLC chromatograms with very good separate effect were obtained. The method was simple and quick with the high coefficient of correlation, delicacy, recovery and repeatability in detecting gallic acid. The gallic acid content in fruit of six longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) cultivars grown in Fujian province showed difference. The content of gallic acid in different parts of the fruit was the following sequence: seed > pericarp > aril. The content of gallic acid in seed was about 4.6-7.4 and 5.7-10.5 times higher than that of pericarp and aril, respectively. In seed, ‘Lidongben’ had the highest gallic acid content and ‘Dongbao’ had the lowest ones. In pericarp, ‘Fuyan’ and ‘miaoqiao’ had the highest gallic acid content and ‘Dongbao’ had the lowest ones. In aril, ‘Miaoqiao’ and ‘Lidongben’ had the highest gallic acid content and ‘Dongbao’ had the lowest ones.