Full Length Research Paper

Quality assurance of herbal drug valerian by chemotaxonomic markers

Mushtaq Ahmad¹, Mir Ajab Khan¹, Umer Rashid², Muhammad Zafar¹*, Muhammad Arshad³ and Shazia Sultana¹

¹Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad Pakistan.

²Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan.

³Department of Botany, Pir Mehr Ali Shah University, Rawalpindi Pakistan.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: catlacatla@hotmail.com, mushtaq@qau.edu.pk.   

Accepted 30 January, 2009

The quality assurance of valerian (Balchur), a traditional herbal drug of global importance mainly used for nervous disorders, was studied. At global, regional, national and local levels the end users of this drug face the problems of adulteration. Two different botanical sources are commercially marketed in the Indo-Pak subcontinent under the same trade name of Balchur belonging to two different families. One is Valeriana wallichii DC. belonging to the family Valeriniaceae and another source is Acorus calamus L. belonging to Araceae. In this study, a commercially available drug sample of valerian is authenticated by using basic and advanced chemotaxonomic techniques. Authentication, quality and standardization of this drug related to its originality was achieved using physicochemical markers, TLC fingerprinting, UV and IR analyses, SEM of natural fingerprints (pollen) and anatomical parameters. This study will contribute towards the global recognition and international acceptance of valerian-like herbal drug.

Key words: Chemotaxonomic markers, quality assurance, herbal drug, valerian.