ESTIMATION OF RUTIN IN POLYHERBAL TRANSDERMAL GEL USING HPTLC

Rutin, the most abundant biological flavonoid vitamin P, act as a scavenger of various oxidizing species. It is widely present in multivitamin preparations and more than 70 herbal remedies. In the present study an attempt has been made to develop a simple, precise, rapid, selective and cost-effective high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for estimation of rutin from polyherbal transdermal gel prepared for the treatment of arthritis. The method employed TLC aluminium plates precoated with silica gel 60F254 as the stationary phase. The solvent system consisted of ethyl acetate, formic acid, glacial acetic acid and water. Densitometric analysis was carried out in the absorbance mode at 275nm. This system was found to give compact spots for rutin at Rf value of 0.48. Response was a linear function of the amount applied to the plate in the ranges 1-6 µg. The % of rutin from transdermal gel was found to be 99.73%, which was well within the limit. The developed HPTLC method would be an important tool in the quality control method for polyherbal formulations. Keywords: Rutin, HPTLC, Polyherbal transdermal gel