ESTIMATION OF SALICIN IN BARKS AND LEAVES OF SALIX SPECIES BY A TLC-SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC METHOD

Abstract

Barks and leaves of most Salix species yield a medicinally acLivc glycoside called salicin. To determine the quality of herbal drugs obtained from Salix plants, salicin content of stem-barks and leaves of Salix acmophylla Boiss., Salix aegyptica L., Salix alba L., Salix babylonica L., Salix carmanica Bornm, and Salix excclsa Gmelin, which are growing in Isfahan, was determined.
Two spectrophotometric methods were used in this research. In one method, which is proposed in this work and which is called combined TLC-spectrophotometric method, salicin was separated by using Thin Layer Chromatography technique (TLC), then the intact glycoside was determined spectrophotometrically.
In the other method, called combined TLC-colorimetric method, freshly prepared Erdmann's reagent was used to produce a colored complex with the separated salicin. Then the intensity of the produced color was determined.
The results of both applied methods proved that:
1) The proposed TLC-spectrophotometric method is more sensitive than the LC-colorimetric one.
2) Stem-barks of all examined species contain more salicin compared to the salicin content of leaves of the same plants.
3) Stem-barks of Salix carmanica Bomm contain the highest quantity of salicin when compared to the salicin content of stem-barks and leaves of other five species examined in this work.