The North-West University’s (NWU’s) subject group Chemistry on the campus in Mahikeng now boasts a state-of-the-art Camac® HPTLC Pro system.

This fully automated system will be used for accurate quantitative and qualitative sample analysis and evaluation of complex plant extracts for routine quality control.

The campus is the second institution in the country to acquire this complete system from Bruno Steiner Lab Consultancy.

The Camag HPTLC is equipped with a Camag automatic TLC sampler 4, a Camag automatic development chamber (ADC2), a Camag Visualiser 2 (documentation system), a Camag TLC scanner and Vision CATS (Camag HPTLC software).

Prof Lebogang Katata-Seru, Dr Zimbili Mkhize and postgraduate student Pule Seboletswe were trained by Camag, a world leader in planar chromatography based in Switzerland, on how to use these advanced instruments.

“The subject group Chemistry will use the system for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of biomarkers present in the crude extracts of South African medicinal plants which are traditionally used for different ailments,” says Dr Mkhize.

He says the subject group is also planning to partner with the HPTLC Association in HPTLC method collection, and the development of the HPTLC Atlas which is used for the identification of herbal drugs in the near future.

“In addition we will also collaborate and promote engagement with local farmers and companies that produce and sell African plant extracts to develop reasonable quality control approaches,” adds Dr Mkhize.

More about HPTLC

High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) is an advanced form of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and provides superior separation efficiency. HPTLC includes a number of automated steps to increase the quality of resolution while accurately estimating chemical constituents.