Stability-indicating methods for determination of vincamine in presence of its degradation product

Three different stability indicating assay methods are developed and validated for determination of vincamine in the presence of its degradation product (vincaminic acid). The first method is based on the derivative ratio zero crossing spectrophotometric technique using 0.1 N hydrochloric acid as a solvent. In the second method, measurements are based on spectro-densitometric technique using high performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) plates with a developing system consisting of methanol-chloroform-ethyl acetate (2:1:1, v/v/v). The third method depends on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Separation of vincamine from vincaminic acid using Lichrocart RP-18 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm i.d.) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-ammonium carbonate (0.01 M) (7:3, v/v) is achieved. The methods showed high sensitivity with good linearity over the concentration ranges of 12 to 48 microg ml-1, 3 to 17 microg/spot, and 2 to 20 microg ml-1 for derivative spectrophotometry, spectro-densitometry and HPLC methods, respectively. The developed methods were successfully applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations containing vincamine with excellent recoveries.