Comparative studies on the release behaviours of gallic acid and eurycomanone as active ingredients in herbal supplement

Abstract

Herbal supplements often incorporate herb mixtures to prevent clumping and to control the release of medicinal compounds and mask bitter tastes. Medium solution and time affected the release rate of active components. In this study, active compounds from herbal supplements were examined for their release behavior in different media [0.1 M HCl, 30% EtOH, acetate buffer (pH 4.8) and phosphate buffer pH 6.3] at different times upon exposure to different media using a dissolution equipment. An aliquot was collected every 15 minutes for a total of 120 minutes. Analyses of reverse-phase HPLC were used to determine the amount of gallic acid and eurycomanone present in the samples. Reference standards for the study were Kacip Fatimah (KV) and Tongkat Ali (TS). The results demonstrate that the release behaviour of all samples varied, however samples labelled KA and TA displayed the maximum release rate of galic acid and eurycomanone in an acidic medium (0.1 M HCl) at 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the sample labelled as TC had the lowest rate of Eurycomanone emission. The highest gallic acid concentration was found in sample KA and the highest Eurycomanone level was found in sample TA. For both groups ranging from 20 to 60 minutes, the acidic media demonstrated the best results for assessing the release behavior of active components. Data on correlations showed a monotone relationship.