Quality Control of Polyherbal Products Using Chemometric Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Traditional medicine systems are a valuable source for many important new remedies to be discovered and commercialized in the future. Traditional herbal medicines are mostly composed of more than one herb which acts synergistically; hence there is high demand for proper quality control methods to ensure the consistent quality of polyherbal formulations. Quality control can be regarded as the cardinal step, which guarantees that the final product contains the same composition as it was used in the clinical studies on which it got approved by certain authorities. Aim: The objective of this thesis is to develop simple, rapid, inexpensive, and reliable methods to evaluate the consistencvies of polyherbal products, qualitatively and quantitatively. Mehodology: An anti-obesity polyherbal formulas ACO and ACFOR (derived from Safoof-Muhazzil, a formulation reported in the most famous book in medical history, Al KANOON OF MEDICINE) consisting of (Trachyspermum ammi, Cuminum cyminum, and Origanum majorana) and (Trachyserimum ammi , Cuminum cymenum , Foeniculum vulgare, Origanum majorana and Ruta graveolens ), respectively, were prepared as well as spiked with one of each herb simultaneously, representing accepted and unaccepted samples. Central composite design was applied to study the effect temperature, sonication and stirring time for extraction optimization. The chromatographic (HPLC and GC-MS) and spectroscopic (UV and FTIR) fingerprints were separately subjected to multivariate analysis. Classification models such as SIMCA and PLS-DA in addition to regression models such as PLS and OPLS were developed to segregate the accepted from the unaccepted samples and to predict the herbal composition in each formula samples, respectively.