Quantification of β-asarone content in Acorus calamus L., an aromatic medicinal plant from the Western Ghats

Abstract

Acorus calamus L., is an aromatic medicinal plant, widely used in the traditional and modern system of medicine for the treatment of neurological and metabolic disorders. High occurrence of β-asarone in the rhizome of A. calamus limits its usage in medicinal preparations due to its toxic and carcinogenic properties. The objective of the study was to collect A. calamus accessions growing in the different agroclimatic conditions from the Western Ghats and quantify the β-asarone content. A total of 20 different accessions of A. calamus were collected from the Western Ghats and subjected to RP-HPLC analysis. Variations in the β-asarone content (1.35±0.00 mg/g to 71.54±0.00 mg/g) was observed in the collected accessions. The lowest β-asarone content (1.35±0.00 mg/g) was observed in the accession collected from Vattavada region (Idukki dist.) followed by the accession collected from Nelliyampathy region, Palakkad (5.54±0.00 mg/g). The highest β-asarone content (71.54±0.01 mg/g) was observed in the accession collected from Kalpetta. The present study identified an elite accession of A. calamus with less β-asarone content (1.35±0.00 mg/g) from Vattavada. It could be a most promising raw material that can impart standard quality for medicinal purposes and preparation of polyherbal formulations.