Simultaneous quantification of bergenin, catechin, and gallic acid from Bergenia ciliata and Bergenia ligulata by using thin-layer chromatography

Bergenia ciliata Sternb. and Bergenia ligulata Wall. (Saxifragaceae) are reputed drugs of Ayurveda, commonly known as Paashaanbhed. A simple TLC method has been developed for the simultaneous quantification of bergenin, catechin, and gallic acid from different parts of B. ciliata and B. ligulata using HPTLC plate precoated with silica gel 60 F254. The method was developed in toluene:ethyl acetate:formic acid (4:6:1, v/v) and validated in terms of precision, repeatability, and accuracy. The linearity range for bergenin, catechin and gallic acid were found to be 160–800, 160–480 and 160–560 ng/spot respectively with correlation coefficients of 0.999, 0.999 and 0.999, respectively, which were indicative of good linear dependence of peak area on concentration. The method permits reliable quantification and showed good resolution and separation from other constituents of extract. Accuracy of the method was checked by conducting recovery studies at three different levels for all the three marker compounds and the average percentage recoveries were found to 99.29%, 98.66%, and 99.23%, respectively. The rhizomes were found to contain higher concentration of bergenin, catechin, and gallic acid than other parts of the plants. The proposed method was found to be simple, precise, specific, sensitive, and accurate. It can be used for routine quality control of herbal material and formulations containing bergenia species.