HPTLC analysis of berberine in stem extracts of Fibraurea darshani
The present study is a first report on the phytochemical analysis of the plant Fibraurea darshani which is endemic to Western Ghats. The plant is a woody dioecious climber belonging to the family Menispermaceae. Preliminary phytochemical screening of methanolic extracts of the stem of F. darshani revealed the presence of secondary metabolites like alkaloids, carbohydrates, anthraquiones, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, sterols etc. A simple and reproducible high performance thin layer chromatography was developed to evaluate the presence of berberine in methanol extract of stem of F. darshani. This method involves separation of compounds by HPTLC on pre-coated silica gel 60F 254 plates with a solvent system of Chloroform: Ethyl acetate: Methanol: Formic acid (4:5:4:0.3) and scanned using densitometric scanner in UV reflectance photo mode at 254 and 366nm. The Rf values (0.97) for berberine in the plant sample and the reference standard were found comparable under UV light at 366nm. The HPTLC method developed was simple, accurate and specific.