Some commercial shoulder samples compliance with european pharmacope investigation

Equisetum species (Equisetaceae) have been utilized in the treatment of various diseases in the traditional medicine throughout the human history. Products are sold under the name of horse tail on the market. This study includes the investigation of 6 different horse tail samples sold under the name of 'Horse tail' according to the criteria defined in European Pharmacopoeia 7.0. Microscopic and macroscopic examinations, foreign matter determination, loss on drying testing, total ash determination, identification reactions as well as thin layer chromatography analysis have been performed. Experiments were conducted on each horse tail sample. The results of each experiment were evaluated by comparing the results obtained from the horse tail materials with European Pharmacopoeia 7.0 criteria. The presence of certain phenolic compounds naturally occurring in Equisetum species was tested in our samples. The results indicated that none of these six materials examined were found to be suitable for pharmacopeia. This study reveals the question to the reliability of spicesellers, herbalists which are regarded as the supply center for herbal products and the necessity of supervising the products sold. Key Words: Equisetaceae, Horse tail, European Pharmacopeia, TLC, Equisetum sp.