HPTLC Profile of Important Indian Spices used in Ayurvedic Formulations

Plant derived spices are generally used in foods for flavoring and medicinal purposes. Spices have been shown to possess medicinal value, such as antimicrobial activity, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory activity etc. Several spices particularly Tejpatta (Cinnamomum tamala), Souff (Foeniculum vulgare), Jeera (Cuminum cyminum), Methi (Trigonella foenum-graecum), Ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi), Dhaniya (Coriandrum sativum), Kali Mirch (Piper nigrum), Kalonji (Nigella sativa) are used extensively in the Indian diet and in ayurvedic medicines. Development of standard procedure through HPTLC is a new approach which may lead to proper standardization of different spices and ayurvedic drugs based on fingerprinting characteristics. HPTLC Fingerprinting technique is widely employed in pharmaceutical industry in process development, identification and detection of adulterants in herbal product and helps in identification of pesticide content, mycotoxins and in quality control of spices and herbs. The study revealed specific identities for spices/herbal drugs taken which will be useful in identification and control to adulterations of the drugs.