Standardization of Sri Lankan market samples of Rubia cordifolia Linn.

Abstract

Rubia cordifolia Linn (Family: Rubiaceae); is a common medicinal plant and an essential ingredient for Ayurvedic and traditional medicinal preparations. It is commonly sold under the trade name ‘Manjistha’. In the present study, an attempt was made to establish quality control parameters for R. cordifolia market samples found in Sri Lanka by a). physico-chemical evaluation b). screening of major phytochemical classes and c). development of Thin Layer Chromatography fingerprints. Physico-chemical parameters such as moisture content (10.62 ± 0.06%), hot water extractable matter (15.55 ± 0.51%), hot ethanol extractable matter (6.23 ± 0.05%), cold water extractable matter (9.66 ± 0.11%), cold ethanol extractable matter (2.34 ± 0.0%), total ash content (6.63 ± 0.16%), acid-insoluble ash content (0.71 ± 0.07%), and water-soluble ash content (2.93 ± 0.02%) were determined. R. cordifolia hot water and hot ethanol extracts showed the presence of phenolic compounds, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, steroid glycosides, coumarin and tannins. Thin Layer fingerprint profile was developed to R. cordifolia methanolic extract. Therefore, the present study helps to establish quality control parameters for R. cordifolia market samples found in Sri Lanka.