Quantitative determination of triterpenes in extracts and phytopreparations of Centella asiatica (L.) urban

A new method for separation and quantitative determination of triterpenes in Centella asiatica herb and its pharmaceutical preparations has been developed. Separation of all pharmacologically relevant triterpenes (asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic- and madecassic acid) was achieved by HPLC employing the reversed-phase separation system acetonitrile/water on RP18 columns at a detection wavelength of 205 nm. Quantification was carried out by the method of external standard with calibration curves for all triterpenes having correlation coefficients very near to 1. The method is suitable for fingerprint analysis and standardization of all Centella asiatica preparations.