The International Atlas for Identification of Herbal Drugs
In a collaborative effort, the HPTLC Association develops and maintains the "International HPTLC Atlas for Identification of Herbal Drugs" (Atlas), a data base and reference tool for setting specification and acceptance criteria for quality and quality control of herbal drugs.
Botanical information about the herbal drug is in line with that available from the Kew Medicinal Plant Names Service.
The Atlas entry for each herbal drug compares multiple HPTLC fingerprints of representative samples from different accessions (different geographical origin) illustrating the natural variability of the drug. Fingerprints of related or confounding drugs are also included. All featured samples of the herbal articles meet the specification of at least one pharmacopoeial or compendial monograph.
The fingerprints of herbal articles obtained following HPTLC/TLC methods from different pharmacopeia and compendia are compared with the fingerprint obtained with the Atlas method. All fingerprints are generated following the Association’s HPTLC standard operating procedure on 20x10 cm HPTLC Si 60 F254 glass plates (Merck). The Atlas method is selected on the basis of simplicity, safety concerns, and suitability for differentiation of related / confounding drugs. Method validation is performed by members of the Association.
All methods and HPTLC data (fingerprints) can be viewed on the screen or downloaded in pdf format. Alternatively, methods and data compatible with visionCATS (CAMAG software) are also available.
New information is continuously added to the Atlas and existing information updated. Available downloadable files always represent the most current version. A login as a member or registered guest is required for any download.
Please send questions and feedback to atlas@hptlc-association.org
