A High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Method Using a Design of Experiment Approach for Estimation of Phytochemicals in Extracts of Moringa Oleifera Leaves

OBJECTIVES: . MATERIALS AND METHODS: The chromatographic separation was carried on Merck TLC aluminum sheets of silica gel 60 F254 (10×10 cm) with mobile phase of toluene: ethyl acetate: methanol: formic acid (4.9:4.1:2:0.5, v/v/v/v) with densitometric scanning at 300 nm. The critical method parameters were initially identified by regular two level factorial design and further systematically optimized using a central composite design, evaluating the effect on selected critical analytical attributes, retention factor (RF), and peak area. RESULTS: extracts, the ethanolic and aqueous extracts exhibited higher content of QT (993.5 μg/g and 832 μg/g, respectively). The ethanolic extract showed a larger amount of RT (701 μg/g). In contrast, aqueous extract exhibited a higher proportion of GA (591.1 μg/g) compared to ethanolic extract (150 μg/g). CONCLUSION: extracts and may also be extended for their simultaneous estimation in other herbal extracts, thereby reducing time, and may serve as a cost effective tool for analysis.