Chromatographic analysis of Kutajarista--an ayurvedic polyherbal formulation

Kutajarista is a well known polyherbal preparation of which the main ingredient is the stem bark of Holarrhena antidysenterica. This Ayurvedic medicine is prescribed to treat amoebic dysentery and other disorders such as fever, indigestion and malabsorption syndrome. Herbal medicines are very important since, in common with conventional medicines, they contain biologically active substances that may produce non-trivial side effects when taken in excessive amounts. Very low doses, on the other hand, may have no therapeutic value. In this paper we report the chemical standardisation of Kutajarista by HPLC analysis based upon the presence of the biomarker conessine in the formulation. The standardisation method is simple and reliable, and the precision of method has been tested for repeatability (n = 3) and reproducibility (n = 9). The response of a refractive index detector was linear in the concentration range of 0.1-1.0 mg/mL. Recovery studies were performed to check the method for accuracy. The recovery was found to be in range of 99-105%. The developed HPLC method can be used to quantify conessine for quality control of marketed Kutajarista samples.