Identification and quantification of biological active constituents of Amritarishta, a herbal formulation

Abstract

Herbal formulations have been used by Indian and Chinese traditional systems of medication for a long time. Amritarishta is one of the herbal formulations that possess various biological activity viz., antioxidant, anticancer, analgesic, antipyretic, antidiabetic, etc. The active constituents include gallic acid, tannic acid, piperine, and quercetin, etc. Ethanolic extract of the formulation was analysed and quantified. Rf (Retardation factor), functional groups and amount of some of the major chemical constituents were analysed by TLC, FTIR, LC/MS, HPTLC and HPLC, respectively. LC/MS results reveal the presence of quercetin, piperine, tannic acid and gallic acid in the formulation. With the help of HPTLC and HPLC, the quantity of 4 chemical constituents in the formulation was estimated. This type of study is completely new to herbal research.