HPLC-BASED STANDARDIZATION OF PANCHAKOLA DRUGS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Dr. Jignesh Roat*, Prof. (Dr.) Govind Sahay Shukla, Dr. Rajaram Agarwal, Dr. Manisha Goyal, Dr. Ravi Pratap Singh

Panchakola is a classical Ayurvedic formulation comprising five pungent drugs—Pippali, Pippalimula, Chavya, Chitraka, and Shunthi—and is widely used for Deepana, Pachana, and Amapachana. Despite its extensive therapeutic applications, the quality and efficacy of Panchakola drugs are influenced by variations in raw material source, geographical origin, processing methods, and phytochemical composition. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) has emerged as a robust and reliable analytical technique for the qualitative and quantitative standardization of Ayurvedic drugs. The present systematic review compiles and compares HPLCbased studies on individual Panchakola constituents, summarizes the commonly employed phytochemical markers, evaluates analytical performance and reproducibility, and proposes indicative standard ranges based on published literature. The review highlights the significance of HPLC in quality control, authentication, adulteration detection, and chemical fingerprinting of Panchakola drugs while identifying current research gaps and future perspectives for pharmacopeial standardization.