A Simple High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method for the Estimation of Boswellic Acids from the Market Formulations Containing Boswellia serrata Extract

liquid chromatographic method is developed for the estimation of boswellic acids, the active constituents in Boswellia serrata oleogum resin. The chromatographic separation is performed using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile–water (90:10, % v/v) adjusted to pH 4 with glacial acetic acid on a Kromasil 100 C18 analytical column with flow rate of 2.0 mL/min and detection at 260 nm. The elution times are 4.30 and 7.11 min for 11-keto β-boswellic acid (11-KBA) and 3-acetyl 11-keto β-boswellic acid (A-11-KBA), respectively. The calibration curve is linear in the 11.66–58.30 μg/mL and 6.50–32.50 μg/mL range for 11-KBA and A-11-KBA, respectively. The limits of detection are 2.33 μg/mL and 1.30 μg/mL for 11-KBA and A-11-KBA, respectively. The mean recoveries are 98.24% to 104.17% and 94.12% to 105.92% for 11-KBA and A-11-KBA, respectively. The interand intra-day variation coefficients are less than 5%. The present method is successfully applied for the estimation of boswellic acids from the market formulations containing Boswellia serrata extract.