Approaches to grass standardization the moldovan snakehead

Introduction. Dracocephalum moldavica L. is an annual herbaceous plant of the Lamiaceae family. The above-ground part of this plant contains various biologically active substances – essential oil, flavonoids and their glycosides, phenolic acids, triterpenoids, steroids, lignans, anthocyanins, iridoids, polysaccharides, pectin substances. A method for obtaining a pharmaceutical substance in the form of a dry extract has been developed at VILAR. In vivo and in vitro experiments have shown that it has pronounced anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective activities, which may be promising for its further study. One of the main conditions for ensuring the quality of the developed substance is the solution of issues of standardization of the herb of the Moldavian dragonhead and the extract obtained from it.

Objective: To establish criteria of authenticity and quality indicators that allow for quality control of the herb of the Moldavian dragonhead.

Material and methods. The object of the study is dried Moldavian dragonhead herb, harvested in the North Caucasian branch of VILAR during the budding and flowering phases in 2018, in the Middle Volga branch of VILAR and in the VILAR experimental field during the flowering phase in 2020. The entire study was carried out in accordance with the general pharmacopoeial articles of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation, XV edition.

Results. As a result of the studies, morphological and anatomical diagnostic features of the raw materials were established, a method for assessing authenticity by TLC with a standard sample of rosmarinic acid was developed, the nomenclature of numerical indicators and their norms were determined. For the quantitative assessment of biologically active substances, a method for determining the amount of phenolic compounds in terms of rosmarinic acid was developed and validated. Analysis of samples of experimental batches of Moldavian dragonhead herb made it possible to establish the standard content of phenolic compounds in terms of rosmarinic acid of at least 4%.

Conclusion. The obtained data allowed us to develop and formalize a normative document – a draft pharmacopoeial article “Moldavian dragonhead herb”.