Quantitative Estimation of Leaf of Ricinus Communis (Linn), From Marketed Formulation Using HPTLC Method

Ayurvedic medicines have a lot of potential because of their comprehensive approach to illness care. Yet there is a need for sufficient standardization before they can be used in modern medicine. Nevertheless, there is a lack of work efforts directed towards the concurrent assessment of biomarkers in polyherbal formulation using HPTLC fingerprinting. Quality Control (QC) in herbal medicine is essential to ensure the safety, efficacy and consistency of products, protecting consumers from harmful adulterants and inconsistent active compound levels. It also involves testing for botanical authenticity, heavy metals, pesticides and concentration of plant parts in the drug. The drug to be administered should adhere to WHO standards to validate medicinal potential and ensure reliable therapeutics. It is relatively easy to trace the percentage of a drug in the modern medicines. In the case of herbal medicines most of the products over counter are polyherbal. To detect the percentage of a specific herb, or part of the herb like leaf stem etc., some phytochemical marker has to be developed. This marker may not be an active component of that herb. In the present study, a marker was developed from Ricinus communis leaf extract by HPTLC, after scanning at 310nm, at RF 0.68, by calculating the AUC of markers from leaf extract and the polyherbal formulation. The concentration of Ricinus communis in the formulation was calculated.