RP-HPLC-DAD method for the estimation of embelin as marker in Embelia ribes and its polyherbal formulations

Evidence-based herbal products with assured quality are assuming importance for complementary and alternative medicine. Traditional medicines by and large are not standardized and validated to meet the new requirements. In the present study, marker (embelin)-based standardization of a major medicinal plant, Embelia ribes and its polyherbal formulations was attempted. Conditions for the quantitative extraction of the marker compound embelin from E. ribes fruits and herbal formulations were also optimized. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, coupled with diode array detection (RP-HPLC-DAD) for the quantification of embelin was developed and validated. Satisfactory results were obtained with respect to linearity (15-250 µg/mL), LOD (3.97 µg/mL), LOQ (13.2 µg/mL), recovery (99.4-103.8%) and precision (1.43-2.87%). The applicability of the method was demonstrated with selected phytopharmaceuticals. The present method was sensitive, accurate, simple and reproducible and therefore can be recommended for marker-based standardization, and quality assurance of E. ribes herbal formulations.