Constituents of Geranium thunbergII Sieb. et Zucc. VII. High-Performance reversed-phase liquid chromatography of hydrolysable tannins and related polyphenols

Hydrolysable tannins in plants were analysed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a hydrocarbon polymer column. Geraniin, corilagin, mallotusinic acid, mallotinic acid, chebulinic acid and chebulagic acid were separated from each other, from polyphenols of lower molecular weight and also from flavonol glycosides. Variations in both the structure and amount of these ellagitannins and their hydrolysis products during extraction were also demonstrated by HPLC. Comparisons of the results of the quantitation of these tannins in plants with those obtained by relative astringency determination indicate that tannins in some plants can be represented by peaks in HPLC.