A rapid TLC screening method for the quality control of Sedum acre L. homeopathic tinctures

Sedum acre L., wall pepper or stone crop is a perennial member of the Crassulaceae family native to Europe, Western Siberia, the Caucasian region and to North America. Ethanolic tinctures of Sedi acris herba are used in homeopathy in the treatment of haemorrhoids and anal pain [1, 2].

Sedum acre L. is monographed in the homoeopathic pharmacopoeia (HAB) 2005 [2]; however, the described TLC procedure is a general comparative method. Thus, we propose a rapid and simple TLC investigation applying the H-separating chamber and using different solvent systems containing e.g. ethyl acetate, methanol, water at different proportions as mobile phase (optimum 75+20+10) and diverse silica gel plates (e.g. Si 60, HPTLC-, RP-material) as stationary phase. The optimised TLC conditions are performed on different samples of homeopathic wall pepper tinctures and provide chromatograms showing satisfying distributions of characteristic zones, e.g of arbutin, quercitrin, piperidin derivatives, in the range of R_f values from about 0.2 to 0.8 (detection: UV 254, UV 366, natural product reagent). The described TLC methods require short running times of about 4min, minute sorbens plates (5×5cm), and small amounts of solvents (mobile phase approx. 2ml/performance) as well as of homeopathic tinctures (application of 10–20µl/performance). These rapid TLC-analytical investigations may be proposed for an improved HAB monograph of Sedum acre L.

References: [1] Brendler Th., Grünwald, J., Jänicke, Chr., Editors. (2003) Herbal Remedies, CD-ROM, medpharm, Scientific Publishers, Stuttgart. [2] Deutsches Homöopathisches Arzneibuch (2005), Monograph Sedum acre (Edition 2001).