Establishment of Thin Layer Chromatographic Fingerprints for the Quality Control of Chanthalila Preparation, A Thai Traditional Antipyretic Medicine

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to develop thin layer chromatographic (TLC) fingerprints to control the quality of Chanthalila preparation (CP).
Material and Methods: Twelve batches of reference CP were prepared from various sources and used as reference batches (CP1 to CP12). Artemisinin, atractylodin, eurycomanone, imperatorin and loureirin A were used as markers. The common and characteristic bands were assigned using the reference TLC fingerprints and applied to assess the qualitative parameters used in the identification and chemical profiling of eight commercial CPs.
Results: The reference TLC fingerprints were established on a silica gel GF254 plate with two mobile phase systems, System A and System B. In System A, atractylodin, imperatorin, and loureirin A were assigned as characteristic bands along with 10-12 common bands under Ultraviolet (UV) 254 nm, UV 366 nanometer (nm), and derivatization. In System B, 6 common bands were observed under UV 254 nm, while 11 fluorescent bands were detected under UV 366 nm. Eurycomanone and artemisinin were not found in any reference CP batches, which revealed the TLC method had poor sensitivity. The TLC patterns of commercial CPs were markedly different from those of the reference fingerprints. Most commercial products failed to meet the specification criteria because only imperatorin appeared in the chromatogram.
Conclusion: TLC fingerprinting is a fast and efficient method that can be employed in the quality control of CP. It enables the revelation of the quality of the raw materials in the chromatograms, which can be useful to manufacturers to evaluate their supplier sources. However, the sensitivity of this method for determining some markers was quite low.