The International Atlas for Identification of Herbal Drugs

The HPTLC Association collaborates to create and uphold the "International HPTLC Atlas for Identification of Herbal Drugs" (Atlas), which serves as a database and reference tool.

The Atlas entry for each herbal drug presents several HPTLC fingerprints from representative samples of various accessions (originating from different geographical areas) to demonstrate the drug's natural variability. Fingerprints of similar or confounding drugs are also provided. All highlighted samples of the herbal articles comply with the specifications of at least one pharmacopoeial or compendial monograph.

Fingerprints of herbal articles obtained using HPTLC/TLC methods from various pharmacopeias and compendia are compared with those obtained using the Atlas method. All fingerprints are produced according to the Association’s HPTLC standard operating procedure on 20x10 cm HPTLC Si 60 F₂₅₄ glass plates. The Atlas method is chosen for its simplicity, safety considerations, and effectiveness in differentiating related or confounding drugs.