Stability-Indicating Densitometric HPTLC Method for Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Arbutin in Commercial Whitening Creams

High-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) densitometric method for analysis of arbutin in commercial whitening creams was developed and validated. Aluminum-backed silica gel 60 F254 plates were used as stationary phase while methanol-chloroform-acetic acid 3.5:6:0.5 (%, v/v/v) mixture was used as mobile phase. Under these chromatographic conditions, arbutin was well separated from other ingredients. This system was found to give a well defined, sharp, and compact spot of arbutin at retention factor (RF) value of 0.40 ± 0.02. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 42.25 and 112.45 ng per spot respectively. The proposed method with high degree of precision and accuracy was employed for the analysis of arbutin both qualitatively and quantitatively in commercial whitening creams. Due to the efficiency of the method in separating arbutin from other ingredients including its degradation products, it can be applied as a stability-indicating method.