Piper longumLinn. andPiper nigrumLinn. are used as spices and medicines. Quantitative determination of piperine was undertaken to provide an easy and simple analytical method, which can be used as a routine quality control method. RP-HPLC was performed using methanol and water as mobile phase. The detection and quantification was performed at a wavelength of 345 nm. Linearity of detector response for piperine was between the concentrations 0.005% to 0.1%. The correlation coefficient obtained for the linearity was 0.998. The assay value of piperine for fruit and root ofP. longumwas found to be 0.879% and 0.31%. The assay value of piperine for fruit ofP. nigrumwas 4.5%. The recovery value of standard piperine was 99.4%. Low value of standard deviation and coefficient of variation are indicative of high precision of the method.

The standardization of ghritas such as amritaprasa ghrita, brahmi ghrita, chagalyadi ghrita and phala ghrita has been studied. These ghritas are the important Ayurvedic formulations used for peri-natal care of mother and child health. Standardization of ghritas were achieved by organoleptic study, physico-chemical analysis, qualitative analysis, thin layer chromatography (TLC), UV - visible spectrophotometry and high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) fingerprint studies. Qualitative analysis of alcoholic extracts of all the four ghritas shows the presence of glycosides and hexane extracts shows the presence of glycosides and steroids. TLC study of ghritas was carried out in toulene-ethyl acetate solvent system. Hexane extracts of ghritas were used for UV- visible spectrophotometry and qualitative HPLC fingerprint study.

The present paper deals with the physicochemical and phytochemical examination of seventy-six medicinal plants belonging to thirty-six dicot and six monocot families. These are used in indigenous system of medicine as well as local inhabitants either as single drugs or in combination, for the cure of various ailments. In physicochemical study, the parameters such as moisture content,pH (1% aqueous), total ash, acid insoluble ash, water-soluble extractive and alcohol soluble extractive were carried out. The preliminary phytochemical study was done for the detection of secondary metabolites such as alkaloid, flavonoid, glycoside, phenol, saponin, resin, steroid and tannin. The preliminary phytochemical study revealed the presence of alkaloid and saponin in 68.4%; flavonoid in 44.7%; glycoside, phenol and steroid in 72.37%; resin in 60.5% and tannin in 71% of selected medicinal plants.

The present paper deals with the standardization of kwatha curnas such as dhanyapanchak kwatha curna, guduchyadigana kwatha curna and stanyajanankashaya curna. These are the important Ayurvedic formulations used for peri-natal care of mother and child health. Standardization of kwatha curnas were achieved by physico-chemical analysis, qualitative inorganic and organic analysis, thin layer chromatography (TLC), UV-visible spectrophotometry and high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) fingerprint studies. TLC study of kwatha curnas was carried out in Ethyl acetate: Methanol: Water solvent system. Ethanol extracts of kwatha curnas were used for UV-visible spectrophotometry and qualitative HPLC fingerprint study.Key words Key words Standardization, Kwatha curnas, TLC and HPLC. I Introduction ntroductionKwatha curnas are compound coarse powders, which are intended for usage whenever particular decoction is required. In the present paper, three-kwatha curnas viz., dhanyapachak kwatha curna, guduchyadigana kwatha curna and stanyajanana kashaya curna were selected for standardization study. These kwatha curnas are used for the perinatal care of mother and child health. Process standardization of kwatha curnas namely, arkadi kwatha, phalatrikadi kwatha and rasna saptaka kwatha curnas has been reported. According to the analytical data, TLC and organic qualitative analysis, the preparation by the second method (by individual powdering of ingredients and compounding them in required proportion to get the final product) revealed more active principles 1 . The clinical study of dhanyapanchak kashaya curna showed that this herbal drug has beneficial effect on dyspeptic symptoms 2 . Materials and Methods Materials and MethodsThe authentic ingredients were procured from the local market of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and were botanically identified. Dhanyapanchak kwatha curna, guduchyadigana kwatha curna and stanyajanana kashaya curna were prepared as per the procedure described in Ayurvedic Formulary of India 3&4 . 252M. K. SANTOSH et al. Analytical studyThe prepared samples were analyzed for the parameters such as pH (1% aqueous), moisture content, total ash, acid insoluble ash, alcohol soluble extractive, water-soluble extractive, qualitative inorganic and organic analysis 5&6 . Thin layer chromatographyTLC plates were prepared as per the procedure described by Stahl 7 . The 4% alcoholic extracts of the samples were prepared by soaking them for 18h in alcohol. Alcoholic extracts were filtered and about 100µl was loaded on the TLC plate and eluted in ethyl acetate: methanol: water (100:13.5:10) solvent system 8 . The plates were sprayed with vanillin-sulphuric acid reagent and the spots were detected after heating at 110°C for 30min. Rf value of each spot was calculated. Sample preparationThe 4% alcoholic extracts of the samples were prepared by soaking them for 18h in alcohol. The extracts were filtered through Whatman filter paper number 1 using high-pressure vacuum pump. The samples were used for UV-vi...