Abstract

A new, simple, rapid, accurate and precise HPTLC method has been developed for the estimation of artesunate in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations. The study employs silica gel F 254 as stationary phase on aluminium foil and mobile phase comprising toluene: ethyl acetate: acetic acid (2:8:0.2). Vanillin (1%) in sulphuric acid (5%) in ethanolic solution gave prominent well-resolved pink colour spot for artesunate, which was stable for more than a day. The densitometric analysis was carried out in the absorbance mode at 520 nm and symmetrical, well-resolved, well-defined peaks were obtained. The Rf value for artesunate was found to be 0.44. The linear detector response for artesunate was observed between 100-600 ng per spot and the calibration plots showed good linear relationship with coefficient of regression, r= 0.9989 with respect to peak area. The method was validated for precision, recovery and robustness. The limits of detection and quantitation were 30 ng/spot and 90 ng/spot, respectively. The recovery study was carried out by standard addition method and the recovery was found to be 99.89±1.006. Recovery from tablets was 98.88 (±0.55) and from injection, it was 98.83 (±0.60) of the labeled amount.