Quantitative Estimation of Berberine in Roots of Different provenances of Berberis aristata DC by HPLC and Study of their Antifungal Properties

Berberis (Family: Berberidaceae), a genus of stiff shrubs, is distributed in temperate and subtropical parts of Asia, Europe and America. Berberis aristata DC is one of the chief sources of the drug (Rasaut) which is useful in the treatment of jaundice and enlargement of spleen. Alkaloids, terpenoids, flavanoids, sterols, anthocyanins, vitamins and carotenoids have been characterized from the different parts of the plant. Berberine is considered to be its active ingredient besides palmatine, jatrorhizine, berbamine, etc. In spite of its use as an ingredient of several formulations, the precise and sensitive analytical method for quantification of berberine is not available. A precise, sensitive and reproducible method using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was developed to quantify berberine alkaloid in the root samples of B. aristata. The separation was carried out using C-18 column and mobile phase used was acetonitrile and water (1:1). The detection was performed using UV-VIS detector. The proposed method can be used for detection, monitoring and quantification of berberine in B.aristata. Differential antifungal activity against three common forest pathogens was also quantified in varied sources of B. aristata.