FRESH LADY’S THUMB (POLYGONUM PERSICARIA) HERB: WORKING OUT A DRAFT PHARMACOPOEIAL ARTICLE

Introduction. Fresh medicinal plants that contain a complex of active substances in their natural states, which are unaffected by hydrolytic decomposition and enzymes, are usually used as raw materials in homeopathic practice. Fresh lady’s thumb (Polygonum persicaria) herb is generally applied as an external agent. Normative documents (NDs) on fresh lady’s thumb herb and its homeopathic remedied are lacking in Russia. Objective: to conduct investigations of the standardization of fresh lady’s thumb herb and to work out draft NDs. Material and methods. The object of this investigation was fresh lady’s thumb herb samples stored in the Voronezh Region. The characteristics of the identity of raw materials were studied and their numerical values were deter-mined in accordance with the procedures of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation XIII edition. Microscopic examination was performed us-ing a Biomed 6.0 microscope. Flavonoids were spectrophotometrically deter-mined using a SF–2000-01 spectrophotometer. Results. Procedures were proposed for the macro- and microscopic analyses of fresh lady’s thumb herb; its diagnostic features were found; the numeric values were established; and a procedure for the spectrophotometric quantifi-cation of the amount of flavonoids in the fresh raw materials was also adapted. Conclusion. Criteria for assessing the identity and good quality of fresh lady’s thumb herb have been elaborated and a draft pharmacopoeial article on the latter used to prepare a homeopathic matrix tincture has been proposed.