Thin-layer chromatography-densitometric analysis of alpha-mangostin content in Garcinia mangostana fruit rind extracts

The fruit rinds of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn.) have long been used as traditional medicines for treatment of skin infections, wounds, and diarrhea. A simple thin-layer chromatography (TLC)-densitometric method has been developed for the simultaneous quantification of alpha-mangostin in the extracts from unripe and ripe fruit rinds of G. mangostana. It was found in the ranges of 10.48 +/- 0.83 and 16.65 +/- 0.38% (w/w) in the dried unripe and ripe fruit rinds, respectively. The method was validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantitation (LOQ). The linearity was found over the range of 100-500 ng/spot with regression coefficient 0.999. Intraday and interday precision studies showed the relative standard deviation was <2%. Accuracy of the method was determined by a recovery study conducted at 3 different levels, and the average recovery was 99.49%. The LOD and LOQ were 40 and 100 ng, respectively. The proposed TLC-densitometric method was found to be simple, precise, specific, sensitive, and accurate. This method can be used for routine quality control of raw material of G. mangostana fruit rind, extract, and its products. It also can be applied in quantifying this marker compound in other drugs.