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Sida rhombifolia (L.) ssp. retusa (L.) is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of fever as well as a diuretic. The comparative antioxidant potentials of ethanol extract of roots, stems, leaves, and whole plant were studied. Estimation of total polyphenolic content and high-performance thin-layer chromatography profile were determined. Further inhibition of oxygen-derived free radicals, viz., assays for free radical scavenging, reducing power, superoxide anion scavenging, nitric oxide scavenging, and anti-lipid peroxidation, were performed. All the antioxidant activities were compared with standard antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole and alpha-tocopherol acetate. Extracts were found to be good scavengers of the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical in the order root > leaves > whole plant > stem with 50% inhibitory concentrations of 546.1, 852.8, 983.8, and 1,222.5 microg/mL, respectively. All extracts of this plant showed effective free radical scavenging activity, reducing power, and superoxide scavenging activity. Only root extract inhibited lipid peroxidation in rat liver and brain homogenate. All these antioxidant properties were concentration dependent. In addition, total polyphenolic contents of all the extracts were determined as gallic acid equivalents. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in root extract. The results obtained from the current study indicate that S. rhombifolia ssp. retusa is a potential source of natural antioxidants.

In this study, the RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) technique was employed for determination of the components in an Ayurvedic herbal prescription, Rasayana Churna. One-hundred-and-twenty decamer oligonucleotide primers were screened in the RAPD analysis to identify three Ayurvedic medicines, dried stem of Tinospora cordifolia, dried fruit of Emblica officinalis and dried fruit of Tribulus terestris, the Ayurvedic prescription. Primer OPC-6 simultaneously generated three distinct amplicons, each specific to one component. The marker with 600 bp is specific to Tinospora cordifolia; the marker 500 bp is specific to Emblica officinalis and the remaining marker >1000 bp was present in Tribulus terestris. Presence of three herbal medicines was determined when RAPD reaction with OPC-6 was performed. The technique was proved to contribute to the identification of components in Ayurvedic herbal preparation and thus helping to serve as a complementary tool for quality control.

Quality is conformance to requirement and meeting stated as well as implied needs of customer. The word quality is derived from Latin 'qualis' means 'of what kind' and encompasses composition and properties of object. Quality is of paramount importance when it is specifically related with drugs. And when it comes to herbal drugs, because of several reasons is a herculean task. The quality of pharmaceuticals has been a concern of the World Health Organization (WHO) since its inception. The setting of global standards is requested in Article 2 of the WHO Constitution, which cites as one of the Organization's functions that it should "develop, establish and promote international standards with respect to food, biological, pharmaceutical and similar products". The World Health Assembly -in resolutions WHA31.33 (1978), WHA40.33 (1987) and WHA42.43 (1989) -has emphasized the need to ensure the quality of medicinal plant products by using modern control techniques and applying suitable standards. This manual describes a series of tests for assessing the quality of medicinal plant materials. The tests are designed primarily for use in national drug quality control laboratories in developing countries, and complement those described in 'The international pharmacopoeia' which provides quality specifications only for the few plant materials that are included in the WHO 'Model List of Essential Drugs'. In this review, we have addressed some important issues related to quality of botanicals and discussed possible application of total quality management for herbal drugs.

Sida cordifolia Linn. (Malvaceae) is commonly known as bala and widely used in Ayurveda. The comparative antioxidant potential of ethanol extracts of Sida cordifolia leaf, stem, root, and whole plant was studied. Anti-lipid peroxidation, free-radical scavenging, reducing power, nitric oxide scavenging, superoxide scavenging antioxidant assay, and further estimation of total phenolic content and HPTLC studies were carried out. Various antioxidant activities were compared with standard antioxidants such as BHA, a-tocopherol, and ascorbic acid. Ethanol extracts were found to be a good scavenger of DPPH radical in the order roots > stem > leaves > whole plant with values 76.62%, 63.87%, 58% and 29% at a dose of 1 mg, respectively. All extracts of Sida cordifolia (SC) have effective reducing power and freeradical scavenging activity. Only the root extract exhibited superoxide-scavenging activity and inhibited lipid peroxidation in rat liver homogenate. All these antioxidant properties were concentration dependent. In addition, total phenolics content of all the extracts of S. cordifolia were determined as gallic acid equivalents. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in the root extract. The results obtained in the current study indicate that S. cordifolia is a potential source of natural antioxidants.