Floral research http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtb.2015.11.006 Quantitative determination of vitexin in Passiflora foetida Linn. leaves using HPTLC Aussavashai Shuayprom 1 , Donruedee Sanguansermsri 2,3 , Phanchana Sanguansermsri 1 , Ian Hamilton Fraser 4 , Nalin Wongkattiya 5* 1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand 2 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand 3 Centre of Excellence in Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand 4 School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton 3800, Victoria, Australia 5 Program in Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Maejo University, Chiang Mai 50290, Thailand ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 25 Sep 2015 Received in revised form 14 Oct, 2nd revised form 3 Nov, 3rd revised form 10 Nov 2015 Accepted 25 Nov 2015 Available online 2 Jan 2016 Keywords: HPTLC Thin layer chromatography Vitexin Passiflora foetida Linn. ABSTRACT Objective: To establish a simple, rapid, precise and accurate high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method with densitometric detection for the determination of vitexin in Passiflora foetida Linn. (P. foetida). Methods: Ethanolic extract of the plant leaf powder was used for the experimental work. Separation was performed on silica gel 60 F 254 HPTLC plates with ethyl acetate: methanol: distilled water: formic acid in the proportion of 50:2:3:6 (v/v), as the mobile phase. The determination was carried out using the densitometric absorbance mode at 340 nm. Results: Vitexin response was linear over the range of 2.5–17.5 mg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.996. Intraday and interday precision studies showed the relative SD was < 3%. Accuracy of the method was determined and the average recovery was 100.3%. The limit of quantitation and limit of detection were 0.879 and 0.290 mg/mL, respectively. The contents of vitexin in P. foetida leaf extracts were within the range of 0.030%– 0.310%. Conclusions: The method was evaluated for sensitivity, accuracy, precision and repro- ducibility. Each analysis by HPTLC is less expensive than current methods. This method is suitable for routine quality control of raw material of the leaves of P. foetida extract and its products. 1. Introduction Passiflora foetida Linn. (P. foetida) (family Passifloraceae) is native to South America, which has spread to tropical re- gions around the world, including Thailand. The leaves of this plant are also utilized as traditional medicine for the treatment of hysteria, fever, ear infections, emmenagogue, asthma, insomnia and skin disease [1–6]. The ethanolic extracts of the leaves of P. foetida display remarkable activity against Pseudomonas putida, Vibrio cholerae, Shigella flexneri and Streptococcus pyogenes. A further study conducted by Mohanasundari et al. did not show the active compound present in the crude extract of P. foetida [7] . The major phytochemical constituents of P. foetida have several active constituents like hydrocyanic acid, groups of flavonoids, harman alkaloids, passifloricins, polyketides, a-pyrones and vitexin [2,8,9] . Vitexin has been reported to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-thyroid, anti-arteriosclerotic, antihy- pertensive and antihepatotoxic properties [10–23]. Levels of vitexin in different plants extracts have been determined by numerous techniques, including spectroscopic and chromatographic methods. High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), coupled with densitometric *Corresponding author: Nalin Wongkattiya, Program in Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Maejo University, Chiang Mai 50290, Thailand. Tel: +66 877880432 E-mail: nalin.wongkattiya@gmail.com Peer review under responsibility of Hainan Medical University. The journal implements double-blind peer review practiced by specially invited international editorial board members. HOSTED BY Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apjtb Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2016; 6(3): 216–220 216 2221-1691/Copyright © 2016 Hainan Medical University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).