EVALUATION OF CRUDE DRUGS

II
DR IK AMPONSAH
 ASH VALUES
• Used to determine the purity and quality of crude
drugs.
• Ash contain inorganic variables like phosphates,
carbonates and silicates of sodium, potassium,
magnesium and calcium.
• The inorganic variables affects the total ash value.
• Such variables are now removed by treating with
acid (as they are soluble in hydrochloric acid) and
the acid-insoluble ash determined
 Procedure-Total Ash

• Place about 3-5 g of the ground material,

accurately weighed, or the quantity specified
in the monograph, in a suitable tarred dish
(for example, of silica or platinum), previously
ignited, cooled and weighed. Incinerate the
material by gradually increasing the heat, not
exceeding 450 °C, until free from carbon; cool,
and weigh. The content of total ash is
calculated in mg/g of air-dried material.
 ACID-INSOLUBLE ASH
• This is ash insoluble in dilute hydrochloric acid.
It is of more value than the total ash.
• Water soluble ash is used to determine the
presence of material exhausted by water
 PROCEEDURE
• Boil the ash for 5 minutes with 25 mL of
hydrochloric acid (~70 g/l); collect the insoluble
matter in a sintered crucible, or on an ashless
filter-paper, wash with hot water, and ignite at
about 500 °C to constant weight. Calculate the
content in mg of acid-insoluble ash per g of air-
dried material.
 CLASS DISCUSSION
• Sokodeε manpower capsules is a herbal aphrodisiac on the
Ghanaian market. It was given to a level 300 UG-SOP student
to establish it ash values for identification purposes. 5 g of
powdered material was weighed and ignited at 450°C until all
carbon was lost. The ff data was obtained
• Weight of crucible = 56 g
• Weight of crucible + ash= 57.1 g
• Crucible + ash+ washed with HCl and residue ignited= 56.4g
• 1. Calculated the total ash
• 2. what is the acid insoluble ash.
• 3. If the authentic product is known to contain 10% ash,
discuss the results.
 EXTRACTIVE VALUES

• Useful for the evaluation of a crude drug

• Give idea about the nature of the chemical
constituents present in a crude drug
• Useful for the estimation of specific constituents
soluble in that particular solvent used for the
extraction
• Water soluble extractive
• Alcohol soluble extractive
• Ether soluble extractive
• Water soluble extracts are used for the
determination of crude drugs containing
glycosides, tannins and mucilage
• Alcohol soluble extracts are used for the
determination of resins, certain glycosides
• Ether soluble extracts are used for drugs
containing fats and volatile principles
 METHODS
1. Cold extractives
2. Hot extractives
 PROCEEDURE
• Weigh accurately 4 g of the air-dried, coarsely powdered
material into a suitable glass-stoppered flask.
• Macerate each sample with 100 ml each of 95% ethanol
and water separately for 24 hours at room temperature
Shake the flasks gently at 20 minutes intervals during the
first 2 hours of extraction and allow to stand for 24 hours.
• Filter the extract rapidly, taking precautions against loss
of solvent, evaporate 25 ml of the filtrate to dryness in a
porcelain dish on a water-bath and dry at 105oC for 1hour
and weigh.
• Carry out all experiments in triplicate and take the
average results.
•  
• Calculation of extractive value
• Calculate the content of extractives in g per
100 g of the air-dried material as follows:
Wextract x 400
---------
Wplant material
 Calculation
• Selewa herbal capsules is reported to give 25%
ethanol soluble and 13.1% ether soluble
extractives according to the manufacturer.
• The FDA seized some capsules (Selewa herbal)
from the open market suspected to be fake or
substandard.
• A level 300 UG-SOP student authenticated it as
follows
• Volume of ethanol used = 100 ml
• Weight of powdered drug used = 5 g
• Weight of empty crucible = 94.3 g
• Weight of crucible + dried extract = 94.8 g
1. Calculate the alcohol soluble extractive of
selewa capsules
2. What is your recommendation to the FDA