Densitometric high-performance thin-layer chromatography methods for the quantification of oleuropein in Olea europaea leaves and pharmaceutical preparation utilizing normal- and reversed-phase silica gel plates

Two validated, simple and precise densitometric high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) quantification methods were proposed for both qualitative and quantitative estimation of oleuropein in Olea europaea leaves and a pharmaceutical product utilizing normal-phase and reversed-phase silica gel TLC plates. In method I, 10 × 20 cm glass plates coated with 0.2 mm thin layers of normal-phase silica gel 60 containing F₂₅₄ (E-Merck, Germany) and a mixture of ethyl acetate‒methanol‒water (8:1:0.5, V/V) were used as the stationary and the mobile phase, respectively. Method II utilized 10 × 20 cm glass-backed plates supporting 0.2 mm layers of RP-18 silica gel 60 containing F₂₅₄ (E-Merck, Germany) as the stationary phase and green solvents mixture composed of ethanol‒water (5.5:4.5, V/V) as the mobile phase. The two methods resulted in sharp, symmetrical, well-resolved peaks at R_F values of 0.47 ± 0.02 and 0.78 ± 0.03 with linearity ranges 200‒1400 ng/spot (r² = 0.9994) and 200‒1400 ng/spot (r² = 0.9996) for method I and method II, respectively. Spots corresponding to oleuropein were scanned at 200 nm. The two methods complied with the ICH guidelines for validation. Due to simplicity, low cost and short analysis time, the methods can be good alternatives for the quality control of different products containing olive leaves extract or pure oleuropein.