High-performance thin-layer chromatography and three-dimensional image analysis for the determination of rutin in pharmaceutical preparations.

A novel HPTLC method was developed for fast and simple quantitative determination of rutin in pharmaceutical preparations. The proposed method combines the advantages of HPTLC with the comfort and the convenience of digital processing of images. For the separation of rutin, silica gel with attached amino groups was used as the stationary phase and ethyl acetate-formic acid-methanol-water (10 + 0.9 + 1.1 + 1.7, v/v/v/v) as the mobile phase. The chromatographic plate was sprayed with 2-aminoethyldiphenyl borate solution for visual detection of the spots. For the construction of a three-dimensional chromatogram, Melanie 7.0 software was used together with an HP flatbed scanner that allowed capture of the images on chromatographic plates. The calibration curve was linear within the range of 0.95-4.78 microg/spot with an r value of 0.9984. The RSD for six replicates at three concentration levels was less than 3%, while the recovery was between 97.28 and 103.27%. The proposed method was found to be simple, precise, sensitive, and accurate and has been applied for the determination of rutin in two commercial drugs. The results were compared with the results of other techniques that generate bidimensional chromatograms and validated by UV-Vis spectrophotometry.