TLC Densitometric Method for the Quantification of Eugenol and Gallic Acid in Clove

Eugenol and gallic acid are reported from the flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & Perry (clove). Both the compounds have been shown to give interesting biological activities and hence serve as biomarkers. We report a simple TLC densitometric method for the quantification of eugenol and gallic acid in clove. The method was validated for precision, repeatability and accuracy. The method was found to be precise with RSD of 0.61 and 1.3 (intraday) and 0.96 and 0.24 (interday) for different concentrations of eugenol and gallic acid respectively. Instrumental precision was 0.24 and 0.21 (% CV) for eugenol and gallic acid respectively. Accuracy of the method was checked by conducting recovery study at two different levels for eugenol and gallic acid and the average percentage recoveries were found to be 99.79% and 97.90% respectively. The contents of eugenol and gallic acid in different samples of clove, as estimated by the proposed method, were found to be in the range of 12.9–14.6% and 0.31–0.61% respectively. The proposed HPTLC method for the estimation gallic acid and eugenol was found to be simple, precise, specific, sensitive and accurate and can be used for routine quality control of clove.