Volatile composition analysis and quantitative determination of specific markers in a traditional preparation, Jawārish-e-Komooni

Control and standardization process of herbal products is a critical point in traditional medicine. Many herbal formulations that are being used today are not standardized and also there is no noticeable control over them. Out of all the different pharmaceutical dosage forms mentioned in Traditional Persian Medicine literature, Jawarish-e-Komooni is an effective formulation due to its positive effect on Gastrointestinal disorders. This formulation includes Zingiber officinale, Bunium persicum, Piper nigrum, and also honey. At this time there have been no noticeable and proven control and standardization or any pharmacognosy studies on this formulation. In this study, Jawarish-e-Komooni was prepared according to Qarābadin-e-Salehi, one of the most practical Traditional Persian Medicine literature. Then, by using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and HPTLC, the containing of the formulation were assessed. Also for content determination, using Gas chromatography/ flame ionization detector (GC/FID), two of the main ingredients were determined. The HPTLC results showed piperine and gamma-terpinene as the main components of the formulation. In the standardizing process, piperine and gamma-terpinene were respectively proved to be 0.22% and 0.97% of the whole preparation. Also by calculating the standard deviation of the content determination process, we could reach the point where RSD was less than 10%, which is proof of the validity of our method. As mentioned before, standardization is a critical process for all the traditional preparations and it could help us gain repetitive drug responses elsewhere.