Mn. Ravishankara et al., HPTLC method for the estimation of alkaloids of Cinchona officinalis stem bark and its marketed formulations, PLANTA MED, 67(3), 2001, pp. 294-296
We report a sensitive method for the estimation of quinine (Qn), cinchonine
(Cn), and cinchonidine (Cnd) and a new method based on fluorescence enhanc
ement and detection and quantification of quinidine (Qnd) from Cinchona ste
m bark and its formulations, using HPTLC. Standard solutions of Qn, Qnd, Cn
, and Cnd were applied on precoated HPTLC plates and developed with chlorof
orm/diethylamine (9.6:1.4 v/v). The plates were scanned and quantified at 2
26 nm for Qn, Cn, Cnd and for Qnd at 366 nm in fluorescence and reflectance
mode (not less than K400 filter). The method was validated for precision,
accuracy and repeatability. Further, the stem bark of Cinchona officinalis
and some herbal and homeopathic formulations were evaluated for their indiv
idual alkaloid content applying the developed method.