High-performance thin layer chromatographic analysis of anti-inflammatory triterpenoids from Boswellia serrata Roxb

A rapid and simple high-performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method was developed for the simultaneous quantitative estimation of the biologically active triterpenoids beta-boswellic acid, 3-O-acetyl-beta-boswellic acid, 11-keto-beta-boswellic acid and 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid from the gum resin of Boswellia serrata. The assay combines the isolation and separation of boswellic acid derivatives on silica gel 60F254-HPTLC plates with spot visualisation and scanning at 250 nm. Methanol was found to be the most appropriate solvent for the exhaustive extraction of boswellic acid derivatives.