Development and validation of an HPTLC method for apigenin 7-O-glucoside in chamomile flowers and its application for fingerprint discrimination of chamomile-like materials.

Brewed tea of chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutita L.) (Asteraceae) has been extensively consumed for centuries due to either its pleasant taste or medicinal purposes. On the other hand, the major problem is difficulty in distinguishing the genuine specimen when supplying chamomile through nature-picking. Consequently flowers of other Asteraceae members resembling to chamomile in appearance may frequently be practiced by lay people or marketed in spice shops or bazaars. Evidently detection of such adulterations plays a vital role in terms of public health to avoid risk of toxicity (i.e. pyrazolidin alkaloids) and ineffective treatments (lack or insufficient concentration of the active constituents). This work presents either development and validation of a high performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for apigenin 7-O-glucoside which is one of the active markers in chamomile flowers or its application for the fingerprint discrimination of chamomile-like materials i.e. Anthemis spp., Bellis spp., Chrysanthemum sp. and Tanacetum sp. gathered by local people assuming as chamomile. Separation was performed on the silica gel 60 NH2 F254s HPTLC plates using the developing solvent system of ethyl acetate-formic acid-acetic acid-water (30:1.5:1.5:3, v/v/v/v). The proposed HPTLC method may also be a leading guide for the quality assessment of chamomile tea products on the market.