Abstract

A CRITICAL REVIEW ON DRUG STANDARDIZATION

Dr. Anurag Mishra* and Dr. Kavita Tiwari

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Abstract

Nowadays, world is witnessing an unprecedented growth in the usage of herbal products. The term “herbal drugs” denotes plants or plant parts that have been converted into phytopharmaceuticals by means of simple processes involving harvesting, drying, and storage. Standardization of drug means confirmation of its identity, quality and purity throughout all phases of its cycle The rise in the use of herbal product has also given rise to various forms of abuse and adulteration of the products leading to consumer‟s and manufacturer‟s disappointment and in some instances fatal consequences. For global harmonization WHO specific guidelines for the assessment of the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal medicines are of utmost importance. For standardization and quality assurance purposes, following three attributes are desirable i) Authenticity, ii) Purity and iii) Assay. In order to prove constant composition of herbal preparations, adequate analytical methods have to be applied such as photometric analysis, TLC, HPLC, and GC, metabolomics technique, differential pulse polargraphy chemometric, X-ray diffraction, Capillary electrophoresis, DNA Fingerprinting. Authenticity relates to proving that the material is true. The present overview covers the Standardization parameters with their standards value of the some herbal drugs.

Keywords: Herbal drugs, Standardization, WHO, Chromatography, Electrophoresis, Herbal medicine, Standardization, DNA finger printing.