Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology

The peel of the red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) contains abundant amounts of carotenoids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and phenolic compounds—all of which are naturally occurring antioxidants. Strong flavonoid antioxidant quercetin protects against tissue damage brought on by a variety of medication toxicities. The aim of the present work was to determine the quantitiy of quercetin in red dragon fruit peel methanol extract using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) densitometric analysis technique. Quercetin levels were first qualitatively analysed using thin layer chromatography (KLT) and then quantitatively analyzed using HPTLC. HPTLC was performed on Xbridge C18 5μm, 4.6×250mm HPTLC plates with phosphoric acid 0,5%: methanol (60:40) as the solvent system. Quantitative analysis using TLC showed that the extract was positive for quercetin with rf value = 0.26. The total quercetin content obtained was 206.76ug/g. Based on the analysis results, it can be concluded that HPTLC is an accurate and sensitive method for separating and quantifying quercetin in methanol extract of dragon fruit peel. The results of this analysis can be used in the further development of traditional medicine.