Application of FTIR-ATR Spectroscopy in Combination With Multivariate Analysis to Analyze Synthetic Drugs Adulterant in Ternary Mixtures of Herbal Medicine Products

Abstract

A rapid, efficient, inexpensive method is required to counter the increasing number of adulteration reports in herbal medicine products in Indonesia, specifically Jamu in a powder dosage form. This study aims to develop an approach for the quantification and classification of the adulterated herbal medicine product with synthetic drugs (prednisone and metamizole) using FTIR Spectroscopy and multivariate calibrations of partial least square regression (PLSR) and principle component regression (PCR) and discriminant analysis (DA). The spectra data of three individual pain reliever herbal products were scanned and collected by FTIR-ATR in mid-infrared region and further analyzed by two multivariate calibrations to exhibit the optimum mode for the quantification of each sample pain reliever herbal product. Based on statistical parameter value, PCR demonstrated the highest value of R2 in both calibration and validation, and the lowest values of root mean square of calibration (RMSEC) and root mean square of prediction (RMSEP). DA could classify pure pain reliever herbal medicine products without any drugs and those adulterated with synthetic drugs. DA could discriminate between adulterated and unadulterated pain reliever herbal medicine products with 100% accuracy level. FTIR-ATR spectroscopy in the mid-infrared region coupled with chemometrics could be a potential analytical technique to detect synthetic drug contaminants in herbal products.