PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CONTROL OF HELIOTROPIUM INDICUM LINN., BORAGINACEAE, POWDER AND TINCTURE

The quality control of herbal drugs and their extracts is essential when they are used as raw material for the development of herbal medicines. In this work, several techniques (pharmacopoeial and non-pharmacopoeial) were performed, aiming at establishing quality control parameters of the leaves of Heliotropium indicum L. (Boraginaceae), a shrub popularly known as stinker (fedegoso) in Brazilian northern and northeastern regions. The results determined the physicochemical characteristics of the drug and the tincture of the leaves. They also showed that the values obtained are in accordance with the data found in the literature for plant material. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of the leaves demonstrated the presence of phenols, tannins and alkaloids. The chromatographic profile showed the presence of a common substance in the hexanic and alkaloidal fractions.