COMPARATIVE HPTLC FINGERPRINT PROFILING OF LEAF AND RHIZOME EXTRACTS OF CYPERUS ROTUNDUS L. PREPARED USING DIFFERENT SOLVENT SYSTEMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR HERBAL STANDARDIZATION AND QUALITY CONTROL

Abstract

Cyperus rotundus L. is a medicinal plant widely recognized for its diverse therapeutic properties, which are primarily attributed to its rich phytochemical composition. Reliable phytochemical fingerprinting is essential for the authentication, quality control, and standardization of herbal medicines. High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) is a rapid, reproducible, and cost-effective analytical technique extensively employed for the qualitative characterization of medicinal plant extracts. The present study aims to develop comparative HPTLC fingerprint profiles of leaf and rhizome extracts of Cyperus rotundus prepared using ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, and chloroform, and to evaluate solvent dependent variations in phytochemical composition using quercetin as a reference marker. During the work, distinct chromatographic fingerprints were obtained for all extracts, indicating solvent-dependent variation in phytochemical composition. Leaf extracts exhibited two characteristic peaks, with the ethyl acetate extract showing the highest major peak area (60%), followed by ethanol (58%), methanol (52%), and chloroform (46%). Rhizome extracts also exhibited two prominent peaks, with ethanol showing the highest peak area (65%), followed by methanol (62%), ethyl acetate (59%), and chloroform (54%). Similar major Rf values among different extracts suggested the presence of common flavonoid constituents, whereas differences in peak intensity reflected variations in extraction efficiency associated with solvent polarity. The developed HPTLC fingerprint profiles provide reproducible chromatographic characteristics for the qualitative evaluation of Cyperus rotundus leaf and rhizome extracts. The findings demonstrate that extraction solvent significantly influences phytochemical recovery, with ethanol, methanol, and ethyl acetate showing superior extraction efficiency compared with chloroform. The proposed HPTLC fingerprints may serve as valuable analytical reference standards for the authentication, quality assessment, and standardization of Cyperus rotundus and its herbal formulations.