Rosari Kingston
A phytochemical analysis of selected constituents of Crataegus flos and fruct. To determine whether ethanol, whiskey and brandy solvents affect the chemical constituent of the herbal preparations.
Abstract
Analysis was undertaken to determine whether ethanol, whiskey and brandy solvents affect the chemical constituent profile of herbal tinctures.
Crataegus flos and fruct. dried herb was prepared as a 1:5 tincture. The solvents chosen for extraction were ethanol 25%, 40%, whiskey and brandy. A representation of pharmacologically active compounds present in Crataegus flos and fruct. as identified by ESCOP, were chosen as markers in the research.
The methods of analysis used for identification and quantification of the constituents were thin layer chromatography (TLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). These methods were chosen because TLC provides a qualitative evaluation of the presence of a constituent and LC-MS provides both a qualitative and quantitative identification of the constituents present in the sample.
The results of this analysis show that all the identified constituents are extracted by the chosen solvents but in different quantities. The cumulative total of the identified constituents were greatest in the whiskey sample.