Detection and Quantification of Eurycomanone Levels in Tongkat Ali Herbal Products

摘要

Tongkat Ali is most famous for its aphrodisiac property and has gained reputationudworldwide. Due to this, Tongkat Ali products are in demand and can be obtainedudin various forms. The quality of these products is not often authenticated. AsudMalaysia is one of the major producing countries of Tongkat Ali products, thisudstudy adapted a method which is used to determine the quality of Tongkat Aliudproducts in the market. The quality of those products is based on the level ofudeurycomanone, the major compound in Tongkat Ali and the level should be aroundud0.8-1.5 w/v (%). A total of 41 products were obtained internationally and fromudMalaysia, with different pharmaceutical dosage, single or combined formulation.udThose products were analyzed for eurycomanone content using HPLC, C18 columnudwith acetonitrile and water as the mobile phase. The result indicated that 24 ofudthe products contained eurycomanone. Eleven out of the 24 products compliedud(0.84-8.48% w/v) with the criteria set by Malaysian Standard and 9 of the productsudeven have the eurycomanone level above (1.6-8.48% w/v) the set criteria. It wasudobserved no eurycomanone was detected in some products even though theudproducts have been registered with Malaysian herbal regulatory body, NationaludPharmaceutical Control Bureau (NPCB). In conclusion, this study suggests that theudeurycomanone level should be utilized as a mandatory regulatory parameter forudTongkat Ali herbal preparation in the market besides the current parameters;udmicrobial load and heavy metal contents alone