Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Standardization of some plants of the Cucurbitaceae family by a validated high-performance thin-layer chromatography method

  • Original Research Paper
  • Published:
JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Medicinal plants of the Cucurbitaceae family are widely consumed as foods in human diet. In the present study, a simple, rapid, quantitative, and validated high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed for the estimation of chlorogenic acid (CA) in the hydroalcoholic fruit extracts of Luffa acutangula (sponge gourd), Sechium edule (chayote squash), Trichosanthes cucumerina (snake gourd) and Trichosanthes dioica (pointed gourd) belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. Densitometric analysis of CA was carried out in the absorbance mode at 254 nm. The method gave spot at RF = 0.55 ± 0.04, corresponding to CA in different samples. The limit of detection and limit of quantification per spot were confirmed with the mobile phase ethyl acetate‒chloroform‒formic acid (6:4:0.5, V/V). Linear regression analysis data for the calibration plot for CA showed a good linear relationship with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9997 in the concentration range of 200–1000 ng per spot. The method was validated for sensitivity, linearity, accuracy, precision and specificity as per the international conference on harmonization guidelines. The proposed validated HPTLC method provides a novel approach for the quality control and standardization of some selected medicinal food plants of the Cucurbitaceae family.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

CA:

Chlorogenic acid

ICH:

International Conference on Harmonization

r :

Correlation coefficient

R F :

Retardation factor

µm:

Micrometre

mg:

Milligram

mL:

Millilitre

µL:

Microlitre

ng:

Nanogram

HPTLC:

High-performance thin-layer chromatography

LOD:

Limit of detection

LOQ:

Limit of quantification

σ :

Standard deviation

S :

Slope

RSD:

Relative standard deviation

%:

Percentage

LAHE:

Luffa acutangula hydroalcoholic extract

SEHE:

Sechium edule hydroalcoholic extract

TCHE:

Tricosanthes cucumerina hydroalcoholic extract

TDHE:

Tricosanthes dioica hydroalcoholic extract

LQC:

Low quality control

MQC:

Medium quality control

HQC:

High quality control

References

  1. Renner SS, Pandey AK (2013) The Cucurbitaceae of India: accepted names, synonyms, geographic distribution, and information on images and DNA sequences. PhytoKeys 20:53–118. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.20.3948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Dhiman K, Gupta A, Sharma DK, Gill NS, Goyal A (2012) A review on the medicinally important plants of the family cucurbitaceae. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 4:16–26. https://doi.org/10.3923/ajcn.2012.16.26

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Adebooye OC (2008) Phyto-constituents and anti-oxidant activity of the pulp of snake tomato (Trichosanthes cucumerina L.). Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med 5:173–179. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajtcam.v5i2.31270

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Arawwawala LDAM, Thabrew MI, Arambewela LSR (2010) Gastroprotective activity of Trichosanthes cucumerina in rats. J Ethanopharmacol 127:750–754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2009.11.026

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Devi ND (2017) Medicinal values of Trichosanthus cucumerina L. (Snake Gourd)—a review. Br J Pharmacol 16:01–10. https://doi.org/10.9734/BJPR/2017/33575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Chanda J, Mukherjee PK, Biswas R, Biswas S, Tiwari AK, Pargaonkar A (2018) UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis of a carbonic anhydrase-inhibiting extract and fractions of Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb (ridge gourd). Phyto Anal 30:01–08. https://doi.org/10.1002/pca.2800

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Nagarajaiah SB, Prakash J (2015) Chemical composition and bioactive potential of dehydrated peels of Benincasa hispida, Luffa acutangula, and Sechium edule. J Herbs Spices Med Plants 21:193–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496475.2014.940437

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Suryanti V, Marliyana SD, Wulandari T (2015) Antioxidant activity, total phenolics and flavonoids contents of Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb fruit. J Chem Pharm Res 7:220–226

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kalaskar MG, Surana SJ (2014) Free radical scavenging, immunomodulatory activity and chemical composition of Luffa acutangula var. Amara (Cucurbitaceae) Pericarp. J Chil Chem Soc 59:2299–2302. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-97072014000100012

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Jadhav VB, Thakare VN, Suralkar AA, Deshpande AD, Naik SR (2010) Hepatoprotective activity of Luffa acutangula against CCl4 and rifampicin induced liver toxicity in rats: a biochemical and histopathological evaluation. Indian J Exp Biol 48:822–829

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Manikandaselvi S, Vadivel V, Brindha P (2016) Review on Luffa acutangula L.: ethnobotany, phytochemistry, nutritional value and pharmacological properties. Int J Curr Pharm Res 7:151–155

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ragasa CY, Biona K, Shen CC (2014) Chemical constituents of Sechium edule (Jacq.) Swartz. Pharma Chem 6:251–255

    Google Scholar 

  13. Aguiñiga-Sánchez I, Soto-Hernández M, Jorge Cadena-Iñiguez, Ruíz-Posadas Ldel M, Cadena-Zamudio JD, González-Ugarte AK, Steider BW, Santiago-Osorio E (2015) Fruit extract from a Sechium edule hybrid induce apoptosis in leukaemic cell lines but not in normal cells. Nutr Cancer 67:250–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/01635581.2015.989370

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Firdous SM, Ahmed S, Dey S (2012) Antiepileptic and central nervous system depressant activity of Sechium edule fruit extract. Bangladesh J Pharmacol 7:199–202. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjp.v7i3.11275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Neeraja K, Debnath R, Firdous SM (2015) Cardioprotective activity of fruits of Sechium edule. Bangladesh J Pharmacol 10:125–130. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjp.v10i1.21329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Sulaiman SF, Ooi KL, Supriatno (2013) Antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of cucurbit fruit vegetables and identification of active and major constituents from phenolic-rich extracts of Lagenaria siceraria and Sechium edule. J Agric Food Chem 61:10080–10090. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf4031037

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Khandakera M, Akter S, Imam MZ (2018) Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.: a vegetable with diverse pharmacological properties. Food Sci Human Wellness 7:34–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2017.12.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Sharma RK, Chatterji S, Rai DK, Mehta S, Rai PK, Singh RK, Watal G, Sharma B (2009) Antioxidant activities and phenolic contents of the aqueous extracts of some Indian medicinal plants. J Med Plant Res 3:944–948. https://doi.org/10.5897/JMPR.9000189

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Rai PK, Jaiswal D, Rai DK, Sharma B, Watal G (2008) Effect of water extract of Trichosanthes dioica fruits in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Indian J Clin Biochem 23:387–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12291-008-0085-4

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Sharmila BG, Kumar G, Rajasekara PM (2007) Cholesterol-lowering activity of the aqueous fruit extract of Trichosanthes dioica Roxb (L.) in normal and streptozotocin diabetic rats. J Clin Diagn Res 1:561–569

    Google Scholar 

  21. Bhattacharya S, Haldar PK (2010) Antibacterial activity of Trichosanthes dioica root. Global J Pharmacol 4:122–126

    Google Scholar 

  22. Bhadoriyal SS, Mandoriya N (2012) Immunomodulatory effect of Tricosanthes dioica Roxb. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2:S985–S987. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2221-1691(12)60348-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Biswas S, Mukherjee PK (2019) Validated high-performance thin-layer chromatographic-densitometric method for the isolation and standardization of ayapanin in Ayapana triplinervis. J Planar Chromatogr 32:41–46. https://doi.org/10.1556/1006.2019.32.1.5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Pandit S, Mukherjee PK, Gantait A, Ponnusankar S, Bhadra S (2011) Quantification of α-Asarone in Acorus calamus by validated HPTLC densitometric method. J Planar Chromatogr 24:541–544. https://doi.org/10.1556/JPC.24.2011.6.17

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. ICH Validation of analytical procedures: text and methodology, Q2 (R1) (2005) International conference on harmonization, Geneva. https://database.ich.org/sites/default/files/Q2_R1__Guideline.pdf. Accessed 22 Jan 2020

  26. Blainski A, Lopes GC, de Mello JCP (2013) Application and analysis of the folin ciocalteu method for the determination of the total phenolic content from Limonium brasiliense L. Molecules 18:6852–6864. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules18066852

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Mukherjee PK (2019) Quality control and evaluation of herbal drugs. Elsevier, Amsterdam. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813374-3.00002-8

    Book  Google Scholar 

  28. Mukherjee PK, Bahadur S, Chaudhary SK, Kar A, Mukherjee K (2015) Quality related safety issue-evidence-based validation of herbal medicine farm to pharma. In: Mukherjee PK (ed) Evidence-based validation of herbal medicine. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–28

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Science and Engineering Research Board, Grant Number: EMR/2016/007037; Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, for financial support. The authors are also thankful to the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, an autonomous institute under Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, Imphal, India for necessary help and support through IBSD-JU joint collaboration.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Product Studies, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 700 032, India

    Seha Singha, Sayan Biswas, Barun Dasgupta, Amit Kar & Pulok K. Mukherjee

  2. Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, An Autonomous Institute Under the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, Imphal, 795 001, India

    Pulok K. Mukherjee

Authors
  1. Seha Singha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sayan Biswas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Barun Dasgupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Amit Kar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Pulok K. Mukherjee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pulok K. Mukherjee.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Singha, S., Biswas, S., Dasgupta, B. et al. Standardization of some plants of the Cucurbitaceae family by a validated high-performance thin-layer chromatography method. JPC-J Planar Chromat 33, 463–472 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00764-020-00061-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00764-020-00061-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation