Simultaneous Quantification of Biomarkers Bergenin and Menisdaurin in the Methanol Extract of Aerial Parts of Flueggea virosa by Validated HPTLC Densitometric Method

A simple, sensitive high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed for the simultaneous quantification of biomarker bergenin and menisdaurin in the methanol extracts of aerial parts of Flueggea virosa (FVME). Chromatography was performed on glass-backed silica gel 60F254 HPTLC plates using dichloromethane: methanol as mobile phase. Scanning and quantification was done at UV absorption maxima of 260 nm. The system was found to give compact spot for bergenin and menisdaurin at Rf = 0.29 ± 0.01 and 0.16 ± 0.01, respectively. The linearity ranges for bergenin and menisdaurin were found to be the same (100–800 ng/spot) with correlation coefficients (R2 values) of 0.997 and 0.999, respectively. The limit of detection for bergenin and menisdaurin was found to be 27 and 36.2 ng/band, respectively, while the limit of quantification was found to be 81 and 108 ng/band, respectively. Intra- and interday precisions (n = 6) for bergenin and menisdaurin were found to be 1.41–1.71 and 1.65–1.87%, and 1.68–1.89 and 1.75–1.93%, respectively. The percent recoveries were found to be 98.7–99.4 and 99.5–99.9%, respectively, for bergenin and menisdaurin. The percentage of bergenin and menisdaurin was found to be 15.25 and 4.22% (w/w), respectively, in FVME. The developed method permitted the simultaneous quantification of bergenin and menisdaurin and showed good resolution and separation from other constituents of extract; hence, the method can be used to standardize herbal formulations as well as bulk drugs for bergenin and menisdaurin.