Vandana Jain

A simple, rapid and specific High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for simultaneous analysis of Curcumin and β-Boswellic acid in a prepared polyherbal gel formulation containing turmeric and boswellia extracts. High performance liquid chromatography analysis was performed on a C18 column using 90:10 (v/v) mixture of acetonitrile and water as isocratic mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. Ultra violet detection was set at 425 nm for Curcumin and 242 for β-Boswellic acid. The method was validated for accuracy, precision, linearity, specificity and sensitivity in accordance with International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. Validation data reveals that the method is specific, accurate, precise, reliable and reproducible. Good linear correlation coefficients (r2>0.9993) were obtained for calibration plots in the range tested. Limit of detection for Curcumin was 0.16 µg/ml and limit of quantification was 0.50 µg/ml while for β-Boswellic acid limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 3.3 and 9.9 µg/ml respectively. Recovery was found to be between 98.75 to 99.01 % for Curcumin and from 98.72 to 100.01 % for β-Boswellic acid. The established HPLC method is appropriate and the two selected markers are well resolved, enabling efficient quantitative analysis of Curcumin and β-Boswellic acid. The method was successfully used for quantitative analysis of these two marker constituents in an in-house prepared polyherbal gel formulation. Key word: HPLC, Simultaneous analysis, Polyherbal gel formulation, Curcumin, β-Boswellic acid

Accelerated stability studies of Emblica officinalis, Terminalia belerica and Terminalia chebula have been carried out as per ICH guidelines and its effect on total polyphenol content as determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method and Gallic acid content as determined by HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) was studied. The samples were kept in stability chamber at 40°C and 75% relative humidity for 3 months for accelerated stability studies. Samples were taken out at periodic intervals and extracted to determine total polyphenol content by spectrophotometric method and gallic acid content by HPLC. The HPLC method was also validated to demonstrate its selectivity, linearity, precision, and accuracy. The results indicate an increase in total polyphenolic content as well gallic acid content under accelerated stability conditions which is indicative of hydrolysis of gallotannic acids present in crude drugs to liberate free gallic acid, thereby increasing the total polyphenolic content.