Abstract
Study aimed with isolation, identification, estimation of piperine in the Trikatu & detection of dried seeds of Carica papaya Linn. (C. papaya) for its quality assessment. C. papaya a common adulterant of Piper nigrum (P. nigrum) and its formulations. Marker isolation from Trikatu, its characterization and High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) densitometry was established for the quantification of piperine and detection of an adulterant. Spectral evaluations identified the isolated piperine from Trikatu. The HPTLC data revealed that Rf 0.40 for the standard matched with Rf 0.40 ± 0.03 of ingredient and formulation. Piperine was estimated to be 1.38/100g at λ 254 nm in the formulation at 09-36 per ng with 0.99854 a correlation coefficient. Detection of adulterant was carried out by HPTLC analysis in toluene: ethyl acetate v/v in 5:1.5 ratio at three illuminations. Six bands for P.nigrum have similar Rf values and fingerprints as that of formulation in contrast to C. papaya. Rf 0.43 at 565.2 AU and 0.40 at 636.9 AU for P. nigrum and Trikatu, respectively matched with Rf 0.40 of standard, while it was found absent in C. papaya. This confirms the presence of piperine and absence of dried seed of C. papaya in Trikatu. It advocates the use of genuine raw material in in-house preparation and recognized it of fine quality without any adulteration. The data may be use as a set parameter for standardization, quality control & for controlling the adulteration in integrative medicines. This enhance the safety, efficacy, and authenticity of various commercialized Trikatu and other herbal formulations of P. nigrum.