Different organic solvents (ethanol, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and acetone) were studied for their effects on the extraction efficiency of glabridin and total flavonoids (TF) from Glycyrrhiza glabra roots. The extract yield of Glycyrrhiza glabra roots was in the range of 3% to 6% following the extraction efficiency in the order ethanol>acetone>ethyl acetate>dichloromethane. A higher extraction yield of TF and glabridin was obtained with dichloromethane, followed by ethyl acetate, acetone and ethanol, indicating that the non-polar solvents help in optimal extraction of TF and glabridin. We also demonstrate for the first time, that the extraction efficiency of the flavonoids is not significantly affected by the use of the recovered solvents except in case of ethanol which reflects that the moistureabsorbing capacity of the solvent dictates the extraction efficiency of such compounds. The glycyrrhizin content in all the extract types was rather low (0.1 % to 1%) except for extract prepared with water, where the glycyrrhizin content was ~10% as expected since glycyrrhizin is a polar compound. Interestingly, we observed that ethyl acetate selectively isolated only glabridin with no traces of glycyrrhizin, which is a finding reported for the first time.

Abstract Sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS) powder is in use for over 50 years for the treatment of hyperkalemia. SPS powder is official in United States Pharmacopoeia, British Pharmacopoeia and European Pharmacopoeia. However, till date, no study has been published on the assessment of organic impurities for this drug. The organic impurities in bulk drug and finished product are associated with their safety, efficacy and stability. A simple, rapid, specific, precise and an accurate HPLC method has been developed for the estimation of toxic organic impurities like styrene, naphthalene, divinyl benzene (DVB) and ethylvinyl benzene (EVB) from SPS bulk drug and finished product. The developed method was validated for specificity, accuracy, precision, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), solution stability, ruggedness and robustness. The influence of acid, alkali, oxidative stress, photolytic stress, thermal stress and humidity stress conditions on SPS bulk powder and finished product has been studied and reported. The proposed method can be successfully employed for the impurity testing of commercial batches of the bulk drug and finished products of both sodium salt and calcium salt of polystyrene sulfonate.

Background A simple, robust, precise, and an accurate HPLC method was established for simultaneous estimation of xylometazoline hydrochloride and ipratropium bromide from a nasal spray dosage form. The effective separation was obtained by injecting 10 μl of sample and standard solutions on to an Inertsil ODS column, 250 × 4.6, mm, 5 μ at 45 °C using phosphate buffer with 1-pentane sulphonic acid sodium salt at pH 4.7 as a mobile phase A and acetonitrile as the mobile phase B. The gradient was optimized with a flow rate of 1 mL/min and a wavelength of 210.0 nm. Result The complete analytical method validation was successfully carried out as per ICH guidelines. The retrieval study was carried out at 50% to 150% level of working concentration, and results were in the range of 99 to 101% for both the analytes. The linearity was proven from 4 to 150% of working concentration with linear regression curve (R2=0.999) for both the analytes. The developed method was robust for different parameters like column temperature, flow rate, mobile phase pH, composition, and gradient. Conclusion The developed HPLC method can be successfully used for the estimation of xylometazoline hydrochloride and ipratropium bromide from nasal spray dosage form as a release test in QC department of manufacturing units.

Honey is known as a valuable, nutritious and medicinal product from ages. Honey as a foodstuff should fulfill definite requirements which concern its characteristic properties and mineral contents. The objective of the work was to study mineral or trace elements present in the nine honey samples collected from Umrer Tehasil. Most abundant elements present in honey samples were P, Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ca, Mg, Na and K.Similarities and variations were observed in trace elements of honey samples. Presence of these minerals in honey makes an excellent food for humans, especially for children.The percentage of different elements in honey varies during the growing season and across geographical areas.