Medicinal plants provide good remedies for human diseases and play a vital role in our day-to-day lifes. Phyllanthus emblica Linn family- Euphorbiaceae, commonly known as amla, is an important household fruit. The anti-ascorbic agent Vitamin C is a very effective antioxidant constituent present in amla. It is considered to be the richest source of Vitamin C. The determination of ascorbic acid in this fruit was done by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and qualitative test. Thus, it was quantiÞ ed using the High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) method in different varieties of fruit collected from different geographical regions. The method was carried out in TLC precoated aluminium plates with silica gel 60 GF as stationary phase. The solvent system was Ethanol: Acetic Acid (9.5:0.5 v/v) with the Rf value of 0.76± 0.03). Quantitative analysis was carried out in the absorbance at 254 nm. The linearity regression analysis for the calibration showed r= 0.992 and 0.986 with respect to peak area and height in the concentration range of 0.5-5.0 g per spot. The highest content of ascorbic acid was found in the bigger variety collected from Shirpur. The method developed can be used for a routine analysis of ascorbic acid in crude drugs as well as in herbal and pharmaceutical dosage form containing amla as an ingredient.
Key words: Ascorbic acid, HPTLC, Phyllanthus emblica, Quantitative Analysis,
