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Phytochemical evaluation and quantification of beta-sitosterol in geographical variation of Withania coagulans Dunal by HPTLC analysis
Authors: N.M.A. Rasheed, K. Nagaiah, Asema Mehveen, Atiya Rehana, M.A. Waheed and M.A. Shareef
Number of views: 373
The recent global resurgence of interest in herbal medicines, has led to an increase
in demand for herbal drugs and consequently a decline in their quality, particularly
due to a lack of adequate evidence proof data for assessing the quality of drug.
The dried seeds of
Withania coagulans
Dunal of Solanaceae family, play a major
role in indigenous system of medicine for the treatment of ulcers, dyspepsia,
rheumatism, dropsy,
etc
. Organoleptic parameters are not much reliable in
establishing the standards of herbal drugs for which an attempt was made through
analytical analysis, providing a more concrete picture regarding the qualitative
and quantitative aspects which were widely accepted in the quality assessment of
herbal drugs such as
TLC
and
HPTLC
studies. In the present study,
β
-sitosterol
has been quantified in methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of
Withania coagulans
Dunal from different states or regions, showing the variation of
β
-sitosterol content
in the drug due to geographical variation.
TLC
carried with mobile phase Toluene:
Ethyl acetate: Glacial Acetic acid (6:1.5:0.5 (v/v)) on Precoated aluminium silica gel
plates (Merck) and densitometric determinations was done at 254 nm. Calibration
curve was prepared and the amount of
β
-
sitosterol estimated in the extracts by
comparing the respective peak areas with that of the standard. A faster, reliable
and sensitive
HPTLC
method has been developed and validated for the analysis
of
β
-sitosterol in seeds of
Withania coagulans
. Other parameters studied such as
phytochemical screening, morphology, heavy metals, aflatoxin contamination and
fluorescence behaviour to lay down the standard for the genuine drug