Development and Validation of Precise and Rapid HPTLC Method for Determination of Ferulic Acid in Hemidesmus indicus Roots

Quality assurance of herbal products may be ensured by proper quality control of the herbal ingredients. In this regard, a rapid, precise, selective, and accurate high performance thin layer chromatographic method of analysis for the determination of ferulic acid in Hemidesmus indicus roots extract was developed and validated. The method employed, TLC aluminium plates pre-coated with silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ as the stationary phase. The mobile phase consisted of Toluene: Ethyl acetate: Formic acid; 5:5:0.2 (v/v/v). This method was found to give compact spots for ferulic acid (Rf value of 0.59 ± 0.01). Densitometric scanning of ferulic acid was carried out at λ 366 nm in the absorbance/reflection mode. The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plots showed good linear relationship (r²) = 0.999 with respect to peak area and in the concentration range of 50–300 ng spot⁻¹ band. The method was validated for linearity, precision, limit of detection and limit of quantitation, accuracy and recovery. The present study signifies the use of TLC, HPTLC fingerprint profiles for determining the identity, purity and strength of the ferulic acid in the H. indicus root and also for fixing standards for H. indicus containing Ayurvedic formulation.