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Introduction: Acorus calamus Linn. (A. calamus) has been found use in medicines to cure fevers, asthma, bronchitis and as an all-round sedative. β-asarone is an important phytochemical compound present richly in the rhizomes of Acorus calamus that imparts several therapeutic properties to the plant by the virtue of which the plant has occupied a significant therapeutic acclaim in ancient Ayurvedic text and is employed as one of the key ingredients in several traditional and herbal formulations. Thus, the study aims to develop and validate an efficient Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for quantification of β-asarone from rhizomes of A. calamus of the wild and marketed variety and also intends to apply the validated method for the estimation of the biomarker from different formulations containing the rhizome as one of its ingredients. Methods: Separation was carried out on Cosmosil C 18 column eluted with mobile phase of methanol: distilled water (50:50, v/v) at flow rate of 1 mL/min. Detection was carried out at 304 nm using a photodiode array detector (PDA) and the method was validated as per International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. Rhizome was collected from Kerala and also procured from the market. Commercial traditional and herbal formulations like Sarasvata Churna, Maanasmithra Vatakam, Khadiradi Gutika, Chandraprabha Bati, Sanjeevani Vati, Mahashankh Bati, Smritisagar Ras, Abana, Vacadi Taila, and Ashwagandharishtha were further subjected to RP-HPLC for separation and estimation of β-asarone. Results: The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) levels were found to be 0.025 µg/mL and 0.1 µg/mL, respectively. The content of β-asarone was found to be maximum in the sample collected from Kerala which was 0.2946±0.0152 mg/g. Conclusion: The developed method can be recommended for marker-based standardization and quality assurance of A. calamus and its formulations.

Background: This paper enfolds a rapid and sensitive high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for the simultaneous estimation of three triterpenoids namely ursolic acid, b-sitosterol and lupeol from the leaves, flowers and herbal formulations of Rhododendron arboreum Smith., an ethnomedicinal Himalayan tree. All the three phytoconstituents have high therapeutic value. Aims and Objectives: The main aim is to separate, resolve and simultaneously quantitate the three markers-ursolic acid, b-sitosterol and lupeol from R. arboreum using normal phase HPTLC. Materials and Methods: Separation was performed on TLC aluminium plates precoated with silica 60 F 254 followed by detection of ursolic acid, b-sitosterol and lupeol carried out by derivatizing the plate with 10% methanolic sulphuric acid reagent followed by heating at 110°C for 7 min. Camag TLC scanner 4 equipped with winCATS software was used for densitrometric scanning at 366 nm. The proposed method was further validated in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy and sensitivity as per the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines. Results: A good linear relationship was obtained for the calibration plots with r 2 = 0.999, 0.993 and 0.995 for ursolic acid, b-sitosterol and lupeol, respectively. Accuracy of the method was checked by recovery study conducted at three different levels with the average recovery between 95% and 98% for all the three markers. Conclusion: The developed method can be used for the assessment of the quality of botanicals in terms of bioactive content.

Introduction: Eclipta alba Linn. (Asteraceae) is an important ingredient of several Ayurvedic formulations. The monograph on different parts of plant like flowers, leaves, roots are listed in Ayurvedic pharmacopeia of India. The plant is reported to be effective for broad range maladies like inflammation, reproductive problems of females etc. It is also used as a hepatoprotectant, analgesic, antibacterial and antidiabetic agent. Wedelolactone is used as a bioactive marker to establish the quality of the crude drug and its formulations. In the present study, wedelolactone-based standardization of Eclipta alba and its quantitation from marketed herbal and Ayurvedic formulations has been documented using RP-HPLC. Methods: In the current work, an isocratic method has been developed and validated to quantitate wedelolactone from whole plant of Eclipta alba. This method is validated as per ICH guidelines and is used to quantitate the content of wedelolactone in polyherbal formulations like Liv52, Geriforte, Mahabhringaraj oil etc. Results: The LOD is found to be 0.5 µg/mL and the LOQ is 1 µg/mL.

Background: Jawarish-e-Amla Sada (JAS) is a traditional Unani formulation commonly used for the clinical treatment of Zof-e-Meda (weakness of the stomach), Zof-e-Kabid (weakness of the liver), Zof-e-Qalb (weakness of the heart), Khafqan (palpitation), Nafkh-e-Shikam (flatulence in the stomach) and Is-Hal-e-Safrawi (biliary diarrhoea). It is a semisolid polyherbal preparation of six medicinal plants. Aims and Objectives: In the present research work an attempt has been made to establish the physicochemical, phytochemical and safety profile of JAS which may be useful for its quality control and standardization. Materials and Methods: Standardized operating procedure for the preparation of JAS was developed in accordance with National Formulary of Unani Medicine. The formulation was also subjected to preliminary phytochemical and physicochemical evaluation. Chemical characterization of the formulation was carried out on the basis of gallic acid content using a validated high-performance thin layer chromatographic method. Safety of the formulation was affirmed by conducting acute oral toxicity in mice. Results: Preliminary phytochemical, physicochemical and chromatographic profile of the formulation was established. The formulation was found safe up to an oral dose of 2 g/kg body weight in mice. Conclusion: Findings of the present work can be used as a reference standard by quality control/assurance laboratory of a pharmaceutical firm in order to have a proper quality check over its preparation and processing.