Solid phase extraction of Ayurvedic lipid based formulation, ghritas and analysis of its contents by high performance thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry

Ghritas are Ayurvedic lipid based preparations in which oil or ghee is boiled with prescribed kasaya (decoction) and kalkas (fine paste) of drugs until the evaporation of aqueous phase transfers the contents into oily phase. The polyherbal decoction (kasaya) used in the preparation predominantly contains water soluble Active Botanical Ingredients (ABIs). Guggulu tiktaka ghrita (GTG) was taken as model ghrita for this study. The analysis of ghrita was affected by the contents of the ghee which interfered in the determination and estimation of ABIs in the formulation. Thus, it was important to remove those interferences before the chromatographic analysis by techniques like TLC, HPTLC, HPLC and GC. Solid phase extraction (SPE) was performed to remove the interferences followed by HPTLC and GCMS analysis. The results have shown that the interferences were completely removed by solid phase extraction which facilitates the determination of ABIs by other chromatographic techniques.