In order to evaluate the effects of environmental factors on the content of secondary metabolites, the chemical profiles of infusions from leaves of seven genotypes of Lippia gracilis Schauer, sourced from two locations (Sergipe and Bahia state) and collected during different seasons: summer (with and without irrigation) and winter, were determined by HPLC-DAD. The fingerprint chromatograms were analyzed by PCA to evaluate similarities and differences among the samples. Results revealed differences among genotypes collected and cultivated under the same conditions, suggesting that three genotypes have greater resistance to drought conditions.

Chromatographic methods are commonly used for analysis of small molecules in different biological matrices. An important step to be considered upon a bioanalytical method's development is the capacity to yield reliable and reproducible results. This review discusses validation procedures adopted by different governmental agencies, such as Food and Drug Administration (USA), European Union (EU) and Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (BR) for quantification of small molecules by bioanalytical chromatographic methods. The main parameters addressed in this review are: selectivity, linearity, precision, accuracy, quantification and detection limits, recovery, dilution integrity, stability and robustness. Also, the acceptance criterions are clearly specified.