BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL ASSAY OF GENIPOSIDE, A NEW LAXATIVE IN THE FRUIT OF GARDENIA

Abstract

The bioassay of geniposide, the main iridoid glucoside present in Zhi-zi (fruit of Gardenia sp.), was successful by using its mouse fecal-hydrating action after administering a single oral dose. Because of technical trouble, considerable errors in the estimation of relative potency and so on in the biological assay, the spectrophotometric method for the determination of geniposide in Zhi-zi was also introduced by measuring at 240 nm after quantitative paper or thin-layer Chromatographie separation. Although the chemical assay is significantly superior to the biological assay with regard to accuracy and simplicity, the need of the latter assay method for the evaluation of whole biological potency of crude drugs was discussed.