J. Trad. Chinese Veterinary Med. 5, 53-55 (2010). TLC of stachydrine on silica gel with acetone - ethanol - hydrochloric acid 10:6:1. Detection by spraying with bismuth potassium iodide - 1 % iron(III)chloride in ethanol 5:1 and heating at 100 ºC. Identification by comparison of the hRf value and zone color with the standard. Quantification of stachydrine by densitometry at 510 nm. Precision (%RSD within plate, n = 8) was 3.7 %. Stability of measurement (%RSD within 120 min, n = 5) was 4.5 %. Linearity was in the range of 3.2-38.3 µg/zone (r=0.997, n = 6). The recovery (by standard addition) was 96.6 % with a %RSD of 2.0 % (n = 6).

J. of China Three Gorges Univ. Natural Sciences 33 (4), 92-95 (2011). TLC of extracts of Biyuan Pills on silica gel 1) for Magnolia liliiflora Desr. with dichloromethane - ethyl acetate 9:1, detection by spraying with 10 % sulfuric acid in ethanol and heating at 90 °C until the zones were detected; 2) for Xanthium sibiricum Patr., with chloroform - ethyl acetate - methanol - water - formic acid 3:10:2:2:2, detection by exposure to iodine vapor until the zones were detected; 3) for Lonicera japonica and Chrysanthemum indici flos, with toluene - ethyl acetate - formic acid - glacial acetic acid - water 1:15:1:1:2, detection under UV 365 nm.

J. Planar Chromatogr. 25, 575-580 (2012). HPTLC of echioidinin-5-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside in Andrographis echioides on silica gel with chloroform - methanol 31:9. Quantitative determination by absorbance measurement at 254 nm. Linearity was in the range of 200-1400 ng/zone. Limits of detection and quantification were found to be 54 and 68 ng/zone, respectively. Recovery (by standard addition) was 96.7 %.

Jiangxi J. of Trad. Chinese Med. 43 (351), 67-68 (2012). Flavonoids are the main active component in dried leaves of Microcos paniculata Linn. This traditional Chinese herbal crude drug lowers the blood pressure and blood fat, prevents from cardiovascular diseases and anti-aging effects. In order to develop a quality control method for Microcos paniculata Linn. the reference substances vitexin, isovitexin and narcissoside were analyzed with 16 samples of Microcos paniculata Linn. available from different places of origin. TLC of the extracts of the drug samples and the reference substances on silica gel with ethyl acetate – methanol – water 100:17:13, detection by spraying with 10 %sulfuric acid in ethanol, followed by heating at 105 °C for 5 min and viewing in UV 366 nm. Densitometric analysis at 366 nm with a mercury lamp in reflection mode, a scanning speed of 20 mm/s and a resolution of 25 µm/step. Identification of the flavonoids in the samples to be tested by fingerprint comparison of both the fluorescence chromatograms and densitograms.

J. Ethnopharmacol. 138, 755-771 (2012). HPTLC studies of Harpagophytum procumbens such as the quantification of harpagoside were reviewed. HPTLC of harpagoside in the roots of Harpagophytum procumbens on silica gel with dichloromethane – methanol – acetic acid 79:20:1. Detection by dipping into anisaldehyde – methanol – acetic acid – sulphuric acid 1:170:20:10, followed by heating at 120 °C for 5 min. Quantitative determination by absorbance measurement at 285 nm. HPTLC provides comparable results with HPLC but is less time consuming.

J. Planar Chromatogr. 25, 283-289 (2012). HPTLC of mesembranol (1), mesembrenol (2), mesembrine (3) and mesembrenone (4) in the aerial parts of Sceletium tortuosum on silica gel with dichloromethane - methanol 9:1 + 1 drop ammonia. Quantitative determination by absorbance measurement at 280 nm. The hRf values for compounds (1) to (4) were 8, 28, 60 and 71, respectively. Linearity was in the range of 180-240 ng/band for (1) to (3) and 60-300 ng/band for (4). Limits of detection and quantification were 25 and 75 ng/band for (1), 31 and 95 ng/band for (2), 27 and 80 ng/band for (3) and 18 and 44 ng/band for (4), respectively. The intermediate/inter-day/intra-day precision was below 1.6 %. Mean recovery for the compounds was between 90.1 and 104.7 %.

Anhui Med. & Pharm. 16 (6), 768-769 (2012). Shiyiwei Huoxue tincture is a herbal TCM preparation for activation of blood circulation and is prescribed clinically to treat damages of soft tissues and diseases of the bone and joint system. For quality control, TLC of the extracts of the preparations on silica gel 1) for borneol, with n-hexane – ethyl acetate 17:3, detection by spraying with 1 % vanillin in sulfuric acid - ethanol 1:4 and heating at 105 °C until the zones are visible, evaluation in daylight; 2) for Rhizoma Corydalis, with n-hexane – chloroform – methanol 15:8:2, detection by exposure to iodine vapors and viewing in daylight and under UV 366 nm.

Anal. Methods 4, 2522-2527 (2012). HPTLC of the petroleum ether extracts of the herbal TCM root drugs of Aster tataricus, Atractylodes lancea, Gentiana rigescens, and Gentiana macrophylla on silica gel with toluene - ethyl acetate 15:1 over 70 mm. Detection under UV 366 nm and white light after immersion in 1 % vanillin solution dissolved in 10 % conc. sulfuric acid in ethanol, heating at 105 °C for 5 min. Each sample track on the UV 366 nm image was digitalized. For statistical data exploration multivariate analysis based on the models principal component analysis (PCA), partial least-square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal PLS-DA was used. The model score plots showed for all three models good spatial distributions with clear cluster for grouping each sample and high reproducibility and predictive values (> 0.5).