Simple Spectrophotometric Method For The Determination Of Aescin From Aesculus Hippocastanum

Narasaraju ENK Murthy, Akheel

Abstract

Aescin is the major active principle from aesculus hippocastanum(family Hippocastanaceae) the horse chestnut tree, a plant widely distributed all over the world because of its excellent resistance to environmental conditions. It is used in the treatment of varicose veins, spider veins, hemorrhoids and related circulatory problems or “chronic venous insufficiency ”. The proposed spectrophotometric method is based on the reduction of phospho-molybdotungstic mixed acid of the Folin- Ciocalteu(F-C) reagent by aescin in the presence of sodium carbonate giving rise to blue color product which could be measured at 720nm. The method obeys Beer’s law over the range of 8-60g ml-1. Sandell’s sensitivity and molar absorbtivity were 10.549gcm-2 and 1.0439104 mol-1cm-1 respectively. The color developed was stable up to 24h. The method can be successfully employed for the determination of aescin in presence of common pharmaceutical excipients.