Fingerprint Analysis of Vitex Negundo by HPLC Coupled with Multi-components Analysis

Background: Vitex negundo (Nagod) is a very useful medicinal plant growing throughout India. The leaves of Nagod are aromatic, tonic and vermifuge. They are useful in the treatment of many ailments. Introduction: Both seasonal and geographical variations have been observed in the active constituents in Vitex negundo. A comprehensive and reproducible HPLC method based on HPLC fingerprint analysis was developed for assessing the quality of Vitex negundo. Methods: Sixteen samples of Nagod collected from different locations and seasons of India were analysed by HPLC and chromatograms were recorded for each of them using PDA detector and 10 peaks were considered for further data analysis. The data were then treated for PCA and cluster analysis using Minitab software. Results: PCA and HCA analysis were used in determining the variability in the leaves of Nagod collected from different places and seasons. Conclusion: The method was useful for discriminating the location of plant within or outside Gujarat but was unable to display any effective seasonal variation in collected samples.