DETERMINATION OF SYNTHETIC PHARMACEUTICAL ADULTERANTS ANDPHYSICOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF SOME ANTIHYPERTENSIVE HERBALPRODUCTS
Keywords:
Synthetic pharmaceutical adulterants, antihypertensive herbal product, physicochemical, bendroflumethiazide, furosemide, TLC, FTIR.Abstract
The use of herbal medicines and phytonutrients is expanding rapidly across the world with many people now
resorting to these products for treatment of various health challenges. This is as a result of its cultural acceptability,
affordability, and lack of access to modern medicine. The safety of these herbal remedies is however poorly
understood. This study was aimed at determining the presence of synthetic pharmaceutical (bendroflumethiazide and
furosemide) adulterants and evaluating the physicochemical parameters of some selected antihypertensive herbal
products marketed within three Northwestern states (Kastina, Kebbi and Jigawa) of Nigeria. A total of twenty-three
samples were collected for this study. Screening of the samples for the presence of bendroflumethiazide and
furosemide as undeclared adulterants was carried out using thin layer chromatographic (TLC) and Fourier transform
infra-red (FTIR) analyses. Physicochemical analyses of the antihypertensive herbal samples were conducted
according to the standard methods. Four of the analysed samples (M7, M10, M11 and M14) were found to have spot
corresponding to that of bendroflumethiazide standard powder. However, the spots were discovered not to be
bendroflumethiazide by the FTIR analysis. Furosemide was not detected in any of the analysed samples. The
physicochemical analyses of the antihypertensive herbal samples showed that 53 % of the sample failed the weight
uniformity test as it was found to be above the permissible limit. Furthermore, 27 % of the samples had moisture
content above recommended 8 % NAFDAC limit while all the samples were found to have extractives values of
below the minimum recommended limits. The total ash values in 17 % of the samples were higher than the 14 %
maximum acceptable limit recommended by European Pharmacopoeia. The analysed antihypertensive herbal
products did not contain bendroflumethiazde and furosemide as undeclared adulterants; however, their quality may
be considered substandard, since none complied with all quality tests conducted.