INTRODUCTION Plants have been the persistent source of acquiring diverse therapeutically active compounds. Various forms of botanically derived materials have been used to treat innumerable ailments. These materials have usually been in the form of powders made from one or more plants or plant parts or extracts derived from whole plants or selected plant parts. These powders and extracts are complex mixtures of both biologically active and inactive compounds. The complex chemical nature of the botanical materials makes it complicated to use them in conventional manner. This probable variation in the chemical composition of different batches of material obtained from different plant harvests makes such materials unsuitable for use in quantifiable situations[1]. The problem allied with the intrinsic chemical intricacy of herbal medicaments has resulted in a great deal of effort intended for the separation and isolation of the biologically active components from numerous medicinally important plants. The technological advancements in the processes of isolation, purification and structural elucidation of natural compounds have made it probable to generate appropriate strategies for the analysis of quality and ISSN 2311-4673 Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 1, 2015) Quantitive Evaluation of ß -Sitosterol with Hplc in Saw Palmetto Fruits and Seeds Saleha Suleman Khan *1 , Zeeshan Ahmed Sheikh 1 , Aqib Zahoor 1 , Sadia Shakeel 2,3 , Khan Usmanghani 1,2 1 Herbion Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., Karachi, Pakistan 2 Faculty of Pharmacy, Jinnah University for Women Karachi. - Sind - 74600 – Pakistan 3 Dow College of Pharmacy, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi. Pakistan ABSTRACT The technological advancements in the processes of isolation, purification and structural elucidation of natural compounds have made it probable to generate appropriate strategies for the analysis of quality and the standardization of plant based medicines. The current study was conducted to evaluate the biomarker ß-sitosterol in seeds and fruits of Saw palmetto by HPTLC. Quantitative analysis of ß-sitosterol was conducted; using silica gel 60 F254 coated plates as a stationary phase to augment the identification and determination of ß-sitosterol component by using petroleum ether and ethyl acetate 8:2 (v/v) as a solvent system. The Rf value (0.58) of ß-sitosterol in reference standard and both fruits and seeds was found comparable under UV light at 450 nm. An accurate, rapid and simple HPTLC method for quantitative estimation of biomarker ß-sitosterol in fruits and seeds of plant Saw palmetto has been developed. The present standardization provides a specific and rapid tool in the herbal research, permitting to set quality specifications for identity, transparency and reproducibility of biomarker ß-sitosterol. Keywords: ß-sitosterol, HPTLC method, Quantitative analysis. *Corresponding author: saleha.khan@herbion.com 39 Vol 3 (1), June 2015; 39-44