Benjalokawichien (BLW) or Ya-Ha-Rak (HR) is a traditional remedy in the National drug list of herbal medicinal products AD 2012 of Thailand. For traditional use, BLW is used as antipyretic agent. It also has anti-allergic effect, particularly treating allergic rash. The ethanolic extract of BLW exhibited anti-allergic activity via inhibitory effect against a release of beta-hexosaminidase in RBL-2H3 cell line. Pectolinarigenin has been identified as the active compound of BLW extract. In this study, a reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed in order
to control quality of preparation in three aspects such as chemical fingerprint, quantification and stability of the ethanolic extract. The RP-HPLC was performed with a gradient mobile phase composed of 0.1% ortho phosphoric acid and acetronitrile, and peaks were detected at 331 nm. Based on validation results, this analytical method is precise, accurate and stable for quantitative determination of pectolinarigenin. The amount of pectolinarigenin in Benjalokawichien extract determined by this method was 18.50 mg/g of extract. Therefore, this method could be considered for quality control of BLW extract.

Keywords: Benjalokawichien, Anti-allergic activity, RP-HPLC, Pectolinarigenin