Thin-layer chromatography and multivariate data analysis of willow bark extracts.

In most cases the pharmacological activity of plant extracts is not assigned to single components and often not all active ingredients are known. Approaches other than those considering single compounds only to analyze plant material have proven helpful for a better characterization of extracts in their entirety. In this study extracts of willow bark are analyzed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and two different pharmacological tests [the 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride reaction and the xanthine/xanthine oxidase reaction] with the help of multivariate data analysis.