Determination of melatonin in commercial preparations by micellar electrokinetic chromatography and spectrofluorimetry

Melatonin was determined in pharmaceutical preparations by means of two simple and reliable analytical methods based on micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) and spectrofluorimetry. The fluorescence emission values were measured at λ=350 nm when exciting at λ=275 nm. The MEKC analysis was achieved using a system consisting of 40 mM SDS in phosphate buffer (20 mM, pH 7.5). The extraction of melatonin from the tablets was achieved by means of a simple one-step dissolution with methanol/water. Both methods were applied for the determination of melatonin in commercial formulations and galenic preparations. The MEKC procedure allows the quantitative determination of melatonin in all pharmaceutical preparations tested. On the contrary, the spectrofluorimetric method is not suitable for tablets which also contain tryptophan; this interference can be eliminated by a suitable liquid–liquid extraction procedure. The results obtained with the two methods are in good agreement and satisfactory in terms of precision and accuracy.