ABSTRACT
Quality assurance and quality control of the crude drug and its preparations should be based on the major groups of secondary metabolites. Pharmacopoeial aspects for the crude drug include a definition, and macroscopical and microscopical description of the crude drug, identity and purity reactions, and an assay for a quantitative determination. Tinctures are obtained using 1 part of drug and 10 parts of extraction solvent or 1 part of drug and 5 parts of extraction solvent. The titration of valepotriates was performed by opening the epoxide ring with hydrobromic acid using a methylene chloride extract of the crude drug. According to the European Pharmacopoeia 2nd edn, the crude drug should be stored in a well-closed container, protected from light. For quality control of the crude drug and of phytomedicines prepared from valerian, monographs of the European Pharmacopoeia 2nd edn can be used, but additional analyses are necessary.
