The paper aimed to quantify the saponins expressed in escin, the major bioactive constituent of Aesculus hippocastanum, from five different pharmaceutical formulations: two types of tablets, and one type of gel, tincture, and glycerol-hydroalcoholic extract. The products are part of over the counter drugs and dietary supplements categories. Two spectrophotometric methods were used to quantify the escin, after separation from the other active ingredients and excipients. The first method, calibration curve method, is based on the reaction between the oxidized triterpenoid saponins and vanillin and records the absorbance at 560 nm. The limit of detection, limit of quantification, and the RSD values were calculated. The second method is based on the molar absorptivity of escin. Both methods have proved to be suitable for the determination of escin in different products.
Key words: Escin, quantification, UV-Vis spectrophotometric methods, tablets, gel, tincture, glycerol-hydroalcoholic extract.
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