Quantitative Determination of Digitalis Glycosides inDigitalis PurpureaLeaves by Reversed-Phase Thin-Layer Chromatography

Abstract

A densitometric reversed-phase thin-layer chromatographic(RP-TLC) method for the determination of digitalis glycosides in Digitalis purpurea leaves has been developed. The procedure involves extraction of dry leaf powder with ethanol/chloroform (2:1) and clean-up by Sep-Pak cartridges prior to RP-TLC analysis. RP-TLC was performed on an octadecylsilyl bonded silica gel plate, using a developing solvent of acetonitrile/0.5 M NaCl(1 : 1) for secondary glycosides and acetonitrile/0.5 M NaCl(2 : 3)for primary glycosides. The plate was scanned with a reflectance densitometer at 222 nm. Quantitation of these glycosides was carried out by the internal standard method. The amounts of digitoxin, gitoxin, gitaloxin, purpurea glycoside A, purpurea glycoside B, and glucogitaloxin in a leaf powder sample of Digitalis purpurea were estimated from the calibration graphs for pure glycosides.