Abstract
Background: A simple but sensitive HPTLC method was developed for the comparative evaluation of psoralen in antioxidant active extracts of leaves of five different species of genus Ficus (Ficus carica, Ficus nitida, Ficus ingens, Ficus palmata and Ficus vasta).Materials and Methods: HPTLC studies were carried out using CAMAG HPTLC system on Glass-backed silica gel 60F254 HPTLC pre-coated plates using selected mobile phase toluene: methanol (9:1). The antioxidant activity was carried out, using DPPH free radical method.Results: Among all the five species of genus Ficus, F. palmata and F. carica exhibited comparatively good antioxidant activity in DPPH assay. The developed HPTLC method was found to give a compact spot for psoralen (Rf = 0.55±0.001) at 305 nm. The regression equation and r2 for psoralen was found to be Y= 4.516X+35.894 and 0.998. The quantification result revealed the presence of psoralen in only two species, F. carica (0.24%, w/w) and F. palmata (1.88%, w/w) which supported their supremacy for anti-oxidant potential over other species. The statistical analysis proved that the developed method was reproducible and selective.Conclusion: The developed method can be used as an important tool to assure the therapeutic dose of active ingredients in herbal formulations as well as for standardization and quality control of bulk drugs and in-process formulations. This method can also be employed for the further study of degradation kinetics and determination of psoralen in plasma and other biological fluids.Key words: Ficus species, psoralen, antioxidant, HPTLC, Validation.
Highlights
The genus Ficus includes about 800 species of woody trees, shrubs and vines and their fruits generally known as figs, distributed widely in tropical and subtropical regions (Harrison, 2005)
It is evident from the result that all five species of genus Ficus were active against free radicals but the species F. palmata and F. carica were found to be highly active
To compensate the effect of these external and internal factors on the production of secondary plant metabolites, the developed HPTLC method was found to be an important analytical technique for separation, detection, identification and quantification of psoralen in this experiment. In this experiment two species (F. palmata and F. carica) of genus Ficus showed good antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay in comparison to other three species i.e. F. nitida, F. ingens and F. vasta
Summary
The genus Ficus includes about 800 species of woody trees, shrubs and vines and their fruits generally known as figs, distributed widely in tropical and subtropical regions (Harrison, 2005). The present study was planned to develop and validate a densitometric HPTLC method for comparative analysis of psoralen in the antioxidant active extract of leaves of five different species of genus Ficus grown in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A simple but sensitive HPTLC method was developed for the comparative evaluation of psoralen in antioxidant active extracts of leaves of five different species of genus Ficus (Ficus carica, Ficus nitida, Ficus ingens, Ficus palmata and Ficus vasta). Conclusion: The developed method can be used as an important tool to assure the therapeutic dose of active ingredients in herbal formulations as well as for standardization and quality control of bulk drugs and in-process formulations This method can be employed for the further study of degradation kinetics and determination of psoralen in plasma and other biological fluids
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
