Qualitative and quantitative determination of oleanolic acid in a scalp tonic products by HPLC using response surface methodology for extraction optimization

The simple and effective analytical method for the quality control of a novel scalp tonic formulation has been developed and optimized in terms of HPLC conditions and sample preparation method, meanwhile, the optimization of preparation condition was using response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD). Oleanolic acid was selected as marker compound because of its bioactivities for alopecia therapy. The developed analytical method and extraction condition were successfully qualified. Coefficient of determination ($r^2$) for the calibration was 0.9997 with a line passing through the origin point in the range of 0.1-100 mg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 17.5 ng/mL and 55.0 ng/mL, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision of the method were 0.5-1.4 % and 0.7-1.8 % in relative standard deviation, respectively, while those accuracy were 99.5-100.9 % and 100.0-102.2 %, respectively. The repeatability of oleanolic acid in samples ranged of 0.3-1.9 % based on peak area and 0.3-0.7 % for retention time. Recoveries from samples were 95.0-99.4 % with lower than 1.8 % in relative standard deviation. Overall, the developed analytical method will be used for quality control of this commercial scalp tonic products successfully.