Vol. 7, Issue 12, Part A (2025)

Euphorbia hirta L., commonly known as the asthma plant, is a widely used medicinal herb in traditional systems of medicine and is valued for its rich phytochemical composition and diverse pharmacological properties. Among its bioactive constituents, the flavonoids quercetin and rutin are of particular importance due to their well-documented antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. The present study aimed to develop and apply simple, rapid and reliable High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) methods for the quantitative estimation of quercetin and rutin in the whole plant of Euphorbia hirta. The ethanolic extract of the plant was prepared by cold maceration and subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening, which confirmed the presence of flavonoids and other secondary metabolites. HPTLC analysis was carried out on silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ plates using optimized mobile phases for each analyte, followed by densitometric scanning at 366 nm for quercetin and 254 nm for rutin. Identification of quercetin and rutin in the extract was achieved by comparing their retardation factor (Rf) values with those of the corresponding standards. The methods exhibited good linearity and reproducibility, enabling accurate quantification of both compounds. The quercetin and rutin contents in the whole plant extract of Euphorbia hirta were found to be 0.226% (w/w) and 0.29% (w/w), respectively. The developed HPTLC methods provide a cost-effective and robust approach for quality control and standardization of Euphorbia hirta and herbal formulations containing these flavonoids as marker constituents.