UV Spectroscopic Determination of Aloin in Aloe vera (A. vera) Samples Based on Chemometric Data Processing

Abstract

A simple method was developed for determining aloin in A. vera samples by UV–visible spectroscopy with the study of the results of measurements by principal component analysis (PCA), which showed the separation of samples in the PC space depending on their manufacturer. The spectra of model binary (aloin–malic acid) and ternary (aloin–malic acid–citric acid) systems and the spectra of A. vera samples were decomposed using the mutual information least dependent component analysis (MILCA) algorithm based on the minimization of numerical values of mutual information. A good correlation is observed for model mixtures between the predicted and actual concentrations of aloin in the samples under study (n = 3, r = 0.986). The spectra of the model systems, that is, A. vera samples with a known concentration of aloin, and the spectra of A. vera samples artificially contaminated relative to the initial samples were used as calibration systems for the decomposition of the spectra of A. vera samples by independent component analysis. It was demonstrated that UV spectroscopy in combination with corresponding chemometric data processing enables the quantitative determination of aloin in plant samples of A. vera.