Hercaleum sphondylium L., commonly known as hogweed, is a plant species that has been employed as an ingredient in food supplements aimed at enhancing reproductive organ functionality, restoring hormonal equilibrium, and producing an aphrodisiac effect. Importantly, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has designated it as a “substance of possible concern for human health” when found in food and food supplements, as detailed in the EFSA compendium of botanicals. Given the potential health consequences associated with the ingestion of furocoumarin-containing plants, the primary objective of this study was to develop a straightforward and rapid method for screening various furocoumarins (bergapten, isobergapten, isopimpinellin, imperatorin, and xanthotoxin) that are found in hogweed plant products and hogweed-derived food supplements. A novel ultrafast micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method was established, achieving analysis durations of less than 3 min for the complete separation of the analytes. This method is additionally characterized by its simplicity, allowing for the analysis of samples following a rapid extraction procedure and dilution, without necessitating extra cleanup steps. The investigation of ten food supplements indicated that seven products contained no detectable levels of furocoumarins, one product presented levels close to the harmless threshold, and two products exhibited concentrations significantly exceeding this threshold. The results of this study illustrate the potential of micellar electrokinetic chromatography as a feasible alternative technique for the analysis of furocoumarins in herbal products and food supplements.

The simultaneous separation of therapeutic insulin analogues by capillary electrophoresis (CE) remains challenging because of their high structural similarity and their tendency to adsorb onto the capillary surface. This study investigated the applicability of cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives as selectivity-modifying additives for the CE separation of human insulin and five therapeutic insulin analogues using five-layer poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)/poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PDADMAC/PSS)_2.5 and four-layer (PDADMAC/PSS)₂ successive multiple ionic-polymer layer (SMIL)-coated capillaries under acidic and alkaline conditions, respectively. A broad range of CD derivatives was systematically evaluated under optimized background electrolyte conditions. Under acidic conditions, neutral and predominantly uncharged CD derivatives improved separation selectivity, with carboxyethyl-β-CD providing the most favorable discrimination within the critical insulin lispro–human insulin–insulin aspart migration group. In contrast, highly charged anionic CD derivatives disrupted the PDADMAC-terminated coating and could not be applied. The PSS-terminated coating remained stable under alkaline conditions, enabling the evaluation of both neutral and anionic CD derivatives. Under these conditions, the migration order of the insulin species was completely reversed, while several CD derivatives further modulated the relative spacing of neighboring peaks. The use of organic modifiers produced system-dependent effects on separation selectivity and peak shape. These findings demonstrate that the appropriate selection of CD derivatives and SMIL coating strategy provides an effective approach for modulating selectivity in the CE separation of structurally related therapeutic peptides.