Abstract

Gruhadhoomadi churna has been traditionally used to reduce inflammation, burning sensation and swelling in case of gout and arthritis. A simple, precise, specific, accurate high performance thin layer chromatography method was developed for simultaneous estimation of berberine and curcumin form gruhadhoomadi churna. Thin layer chromatographic aluminium plates pre-coated with silica gel 60F₂₅₄ were used as the stationary phase for chromatographic separation of the drugs. n-Propanol:water:glacial acetic acid (8:1:1 v/v/v) was selected as the mobile phase and analysis was carried out in the absorbance mode at iso-absorptive wavelength of 358 nm. This method exhibited good resolution for both drugs with retention factor 0.32±0.03 and 0.77±0.03 for berberine and curcumin, respectively. Regression analysis data indicated good linear relationship for the calibration plots for berberine and curcumin in the range of 200-600 and 400-1200 ng/spot and the regression coefficients were 0.9904 and 0.9934, respectively. The method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines for accuracy, precision, limit of detection, linearity, limit of quantification, robustness and specificity. In conclusion, the developed method was rapid, simple, reliable and specific for the identification and quantification of berberine and curcumin.