Percentage Purity Formula:
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Definition: This method calculates the percentage purity of powdered herbal drugs by comparing characteristic structures with lycopodium spores.
Purpose: It helps in quality control of herbal powders by determining the actual content of the desired plant material.
The calculator uses the formula:
Where:
Explanation: The formula compares the ratio of characteristic structures to lycopodium spores in the sample to determine purity.
Details: Accurate purity assessment ensures herbal products contain the claimed amount of active ingredients and helps detect adulteration.
Tips: Enter the count of characteristic structures, lycopodium weight (mg), sample weight (mg), and lycopodium spores count. All values must be > 0.
Q1: What are characteristic structures?
A: These are identifying microscopic features of the herb (e.g., starch grains, trichomes, or crystals) counted under a microscope.
Q2: Why use lycopodium spores?
A: Lycopodium spores serve as reference markers because they're uniform in size and consistent in number per mg (about 286,000).
Q3: How many fields should be counted?
A: Typically 25 microscopic fields are examined for both characteristic structures and lycopodium spores.
Q4: What's a good percentage purity value?
A: This varies by herb, but generally values above 80-90% indicate good quality material.
Q5: Can this method detect adulteration?
A: Yes, significantly lower purity percentages may indicate adulteration with fillers or other materials.