Quantitation of Oleanolic Acid in Oldenlandia corymbosa L. Whole-Plant Powder by High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography

A sensitive, simple, and accurate high-performance thin-layer chro-matographic method has been established for determination of oleanolic acid in whole-plant powder from Oldenlandia corymbosa L. A methanol extract of the powder was used for the experimental work. The concentration of oleanolic acid in whole plant was found to be 1.892 μg g−1. Separation was performed on aluminum HPTLC plates coated with silica gel 60 F254, with dichloromethane-to-luene-acetone-methanol, 3 + 4 + 1.5 + 0.3 (v/v), as mobile phase. After development, plates were treated with Liebermann-Burchard reagent and detection and quantification were performed by den-sitometry at λ = 529 nm. Detection and quantitation limits were 0.1 μg and 0.5 μg, respectively. Oleanolic acid response was linear over the range 1 to 9 μg. The validated HPTLC method can be used for routine quality-control analysis of Oldenlandia corymbosa L. whole-plant powder and for quantitative determination of oleanolic acid.