Analysis of Palytoxin by Liquid Chromatography and Capillary Electrophoresis

Abstract

Abstract Palytoxin (PTX) a non-protein molecule extracted from soft coral of the genus Palythoa is the most poisonous marine toxin known to date. We have established high-performance-capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) and liquid-chromatography (HPLC) methods for the analysis of PTX. the detection limit of the HPLC method was 125 ng/injection. the sensitivity of the HPCE method was 0.5 pg/injection, several times greater than the HPLC method. the detection sensitivity at 230 nm was two fold higher than that at 263 nm. the sample analysis time for both methods was about the same (10 min). the development of an HPCE method will allow the measurement of PTX at low concentrations in small sample volumes, which was not possible by HPLC.