Planta Med 2011; 77 - P_72
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1273601

Method Development and Identification of Taraxacum officinale Web. ex Wigg. Leaves and Roots using HPTLC

CS Rumalla 1, B Avula 1, YH Wang 1, TJ Smillie 1, DE Webster 3, CH Kim 3, E Bejar 3, IA Khan 1, 2, 4
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Mississippi, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, MS 38677, USA
  • 3Global Science, Product Safety and Compliance, Herbalife International of America, Torrance, CA 90502, USA
  • 4Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Dandelion (Taraxicum officinale Web. Ex Wigg.) is a botanical ingredient widely distributed in the warmer temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. The perennial weed has been known since ancient times and has been utilized traditionally for the treatment of various ailments such as dyspepsia, heartburn, kidney disease and liver complaints, arthritic, bronchitis, anti-inflammatory activities [1]. Although both leaf and root have been used in traditional medicine, the leaf is indicated for water retention, whereas the root is indicated for supporting liver function and digestive health. A simple and rapid high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method for the identification of three phenolic compounds namely chlorogenic acid, chicoric acid and caffeic acid from leaves and roots of dandelion has been developed. The separation of these compounds was carried out on silica gel 60F254 eluted with EtOAC: Formic acid: methanol: acetic acid: water (10:1.25:3:1.25:0.1v/v/v/v) and detection wavelength at 366nm after spraying with 1% methanolic diphenylboric acid -β-ethylamino ester reagent. Evaluation of the HPTLC plates was done using the CAMAG DigiStore2 digital system with winCATS software. The samples were identified by matching the color and R f values of the bands with those of the standard compounds. Track-1–4, 7,8, 10 (Fig.1) showed the presence of all three phenolic compounds and Tracks 6 and 9 did not show the presence of these compounds. The developed method gave a good separation of three phenolic acids and was found to be simple, sensitive with both good precision and reproducibility.

Figure 1 HPTLC comparison of leaves and roots of various populations of Taraxacum under UV 366nm light. Track- 1, 3, 6 & 9, Dandelion Roots; Track 2, 4, 7, 8 & 10, Dandelion Leaves; Track-5- Std Mix-3 (chlorogenic acid [1], chicoric acid [2] and [3] caffeic acid)

Acknowledgements: This research is supported in part by the Global Science, Product Safety and Compliance, Herbalife International of America, Torrance, CA 90502, USA, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58–6408–2-0009.

Reference: [1] Katrin S, et al. (2006)J Ethnopharmacol, 107, 313–323