Previously reported

compound 2 also exhibited moderate antifungal activity against C. albicans on inhibitory zone measurement. 22 Considering activity and cytotoxicity profiles, it is suggested that 2 and 5 are most favourable. Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited the highest potency and efficacy against fungal growth, however, 3 was cytotoxic. Since 3 was significantly more potent than all the other compounds tested, a relatively lower dose may be needed to reach optimum activity. These results are very encouraging and provide novel lead compounds in the search for antifungal drugs. All authors have none to declare. OTX015 molecular weight The authors thank the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Competitive Research Fund), NRF (Gun RH-6030732) and Rolexsi (Pty) Ltd for financial support, and Ms Sithabile Buthelezi for experimental assistance. The authors also thank Dr Hong Su (UCT – Chemistry) for acquiring the X-ray crystallography data. “
“Standardized manufacturing procedures and suitable analytical tools are required to establish the necessary framework for the quality control of herbal preparations. Among these tools, HPTLC is widely used to establish reference fingerprints of herbs, against

which raw materials can be evaluated and finished products assayed.1 and 2 The technique is especially suitable for comparison of samples based on fingerprints. The fingerprint provides the means for a convenient identity check. From the constituent profile, a number of marker compounds can be chosen, which might be used to further describe the quality of the herbs or the herbal preparations. HER2 inhibitor HPTLC can also be employed for quantitative determination of such marker compounds.3 Quality control for herbal preparations is much more difficult than synthetic drugs because of the chemical complexity of the ingredients. Any loss

in a particular chemical may result in loss of pharmacological action of that herb. As herbal preparations comprise hundreds of mostly unique or species-specific compounds, it is difficult to completely characterize all these compounds. It is also equally difficult to know precisely which one is responsible for the therapeutic action because these compounds often work synergistically in delivering Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II therapeutic effects. Thus, maintaining quality in herbal preparations from batch to batch, is as problematical as it is necessary and has drawn serious attention as a challenging analytical task recently. In recent years, significant efforts have been made for the quality control of herbal materials as well as herbal preparations by utilizing quantitative methods and/or qualitative fingerprinting technologies.4 and 5 In the present investigation HPTLC and GC–MS methods were employed to characterize a polyherbal extract and its formulation as polyherbal tablets.