Background:Bharngyadi Kvatha Churna (BKC) is an important polyherbal formulation
mentioned in the Ayurvedic Formulary of India (AFI) for the treatment of intermittent fever
and chronic fever but lacks the presence of standardised quality control parameters.Aims:The aim of the present study was to develop a quality standard of BKC and to carry out a
comprehensive quality control study, including the evaluation of physicochemical parameters,
safety parameters, elemental content, secondary metabolites, and selected phytochemical analysis.Methods:In HPTLC analysis, piperlongumine was quantified in BKC using a silica gel-coated
aluminium plate and developing solvent of toluene: acetone (6:4 v/v). In HPLC analysis, piperine
was quantified using acetonitrile: water (80: 20 v/v) mobile phase, and ellagic acid was quantified
using water (0.05% KH2PO4): acetonitrile (70: 30 v/v) mobile phase. ICP-OES was used to determine
elemental content. The estimation of secondary metabolites like total sugars, tannins,
flavonoids, alkaloids, and saponins was also carried out using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The
volatiles present in the volatile oil of BKC were analysed using the gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry technique.Results:The physicochemical parameters namely, loss on drying, total ash, acid-insoluble ash, alcohol-
soluble extractive, water-soluble extractive, pH (10% aq. susp.), and volatile oil ranged
from 10.56% to 11.06%, 4.67% to 5.76%, 0.73% to 1.78%, 7.56% to 8.2%, 12.04% to 13.06%,
5.87% to 5.96%, and 0.091% to 0.097%, respectively. The amount of piperlongumine in BKC
ranged from 0.7688 mg/g to 0.9902 mg/g. The amount of piperine and ellagic acid ranged from
0.1180% to 0.1362% and 0.0016% to 0.0034%, respectively. Oleyl alcohol is the major volatile
phytochemical present in BKC.Conclusions:The developed standardised quality control parameters of BKC would aid the herbal
industry in developing BKC with requisite quality.