Pharmacopoeial Standards for Venpucani Ilakam - A classical Siddha medicine

Abstract

Belief on the therapeutic values of herbal medicine is in increasing trend and the consumption of traditional medicine is also in upward trend.  The quality control and assurance of these traditional medicines is a prime criterion for any herbal drug manufacturer. Venpucani ilakam (VPI) is a classical poly herbal Siddha medicine under the category Ilakam (Legiyam in Ayurveda). This poly herbal medicine is a combination of 18 ingredients of plants and animal origins. An attempt was made to prepare the drug with authenticated ingredients and subjected to physicochemical analysis, thin layer chromatographic photo documentation and high performance thin layer chromatographic finger printing. The TLC photo documentation of defatted chloroform extract showed nine spots under UV 254, ten spots under UV 366 nm and eleven spots after derivatization with vanillin sulphuric acid; defatted success ethanol extract showed five spots under short wavelength, six spots under long wavelength and seven spots after derivatization. HPTLC finger printing recorded eleven peaks under 254 nm, seventeen under 366 nm and fifteen peaks after derivatization in defatted chloroform extract; nine peaks under 254 nm, eleven peaks under 366 nm and eight peaks after derivatization in defatted ethanol extract. About twenty three percent loss in weight was observed on heating at 105^oC and drug was acidic nature. Not less than fourty percentage of the drug was soluble in alcohol and also in water. This drug has wide therapeutic use and the derived results may serve as reference standards.