A Green HPLC-PDA Approach for Screening and Quantification for Undeclared Pharmaceuticals Alongside Curcumin in Herbal Diabetic Remedies to Assess Herbal Hazards | ||
| Egyptian Journal of Chemistry | ||
| Volume 69, Issue 1, January 2026, Pages 71-85 PDF (2.25 M) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejchem.2025.414243.12224 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Asmaa A. El-Zaher1, 2; Merna Magdy1, 3; Marwa A. Moffid1, 4; Faten Farouk* 3 | ||
| 1Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Kasr El-Aini st., Cairo 11562, Egypt | ||
| 2PharmD – Clinical Pharmacy Program Director, Cairo National University | ||
| 3Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ahram Canadian University, Egypt | ||
| 4PharmD – Clinical Pharmacy Program Coordinator, Cairo National University | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Abstract Herbal supplements are widely used for diabetes management due to their perceived safety and natural origin. However, concerns have arisen regarding the adulteration of these products with synthetic additives and pharmaceuticals. This study aimed to investigate the concentration of curcumin and the presence of undeclared synthetic antidiabetic drugs in commercial herbal supplements used for diabetes. HPLC-PDA method was developed and validated for the determination of pioglitazone, gliclazide, dapagliflozin, and curcumin. Chromatographic separation was performed on a BDS C8 column (150 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) using a mobile phase composed of 0.03 M ammonium formate buffer (pH 3, adjusted with trifluoroacetic acid) and methanol in 48:52 (v/v) at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. The method greenness was tested before application. The detection wavelengths were set at 225 and 430 nm. The method was applied to ten herbal antidiabetic supplements that were randomly obtained from local markets. The method showed excellent linearity (r² ≥0.9996) across the range of 0.5-50 μg/mL for all tested drugs, with LODs ranging from 0.16-0.24 μg/mL and LOQs from 0.31-0.47 μg/mL. Precision (intra- and inter-day RSD%) was <2%, and mean accuracy ranged from 99.37% to 100.76%. Among the ten samples tested, CUR was detected in three samples at a concentration of (3.61 – 4.74 μg/mL). Only one of these ten samples contained an undeclared synthetic antidiabetic drug. Finally, the greenness assessment of the method was assessed by NEMI, Complex GAPI, Eco-scale, and Agree tool, where the results indicated that the developed method was green. In conclusion, the validated HPLC-PDA method provides a trustworthy instrument for regular herbal antidiabetic treatments, highlighting the necessity of more stringent quality assurance and obtaining products from authorized producers. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Herbal adulteration; Antidiabetic herbs; Greenness assessment | ||
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