Testing of Natural Products and Drugs

Testing of natural products plays a vital role in ensuring the quality of products and has made considerable trends in recent years. The efficacy 182 and safety of natural products need to be established, which requires a set of stringent quality control tests and optimization of analytical parameters. Qualitative as well as quantitative methods of analysis are used for the development and standardization of natural products. To ensure the quality characteristics of the natural products, numerous sophisticated instruments are employed for the quality assurance of natural products. Various spectral and analytical techniques such as high-pressure thin-layer chromatography, column chromatography (CC), high-pressure liquid chromatography, supercritical fluid chromatography, thermal analysis, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy, and liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy have been reported for the testing of natural therapeutic entities. In addition, macroscopic and microscopic techniques such as organoleptic properties, determination of foreign matter, ash value, heavy metals, microbial contaminant and aflatoxins, swelling index, pesticide residues, and radioactive contaminants are primarily used for the qualitative features.