High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatographic Fingerprints of Flavonoids and Phenol Carboxylic Acids for Standardization of Iranian Species of the Genus Crataegus L.

     Eight samples of flowering tops from six species of the genus Crataegus L., commonly called Hawthorn, from different geographic locations of Iran were standardized according to German Pharmacopoeia monograph on Crataegi folium cum flore (hawthorn leaf with flower) by high-performance thin-layer chromatograph-ic (HPTLC) fingerprinting combining with digital scanning profiling of their major polyphenolics as flavonoids and phenol carboxylic acids (PCAs). All of the species, except one, contained rutin and hyperoside as flavonoids, and chlorogenic and caffeic acid as PCAs in their flowering tops samples. HPTLC fingerprinting, rather than conventional TLC in the DAB 1997 hawthorn monograph, gave faster and more efficient qualitative and quantitative analysis of hawthorn plant material and their extracts that was appropriate for standardization of Crataegus spp. The corresponding digital scanning profiling provided an easy way for quantitative comparisons among the species. The HPTLC fingerprint is also suitable for rapid and simple authentication and comparison of subtle differences among samples of identical plant resource, but from different geographic locations.