HPTLC is a standard method for chemical identification of herbal drugs adopted by many pharmacopoeias. Resulting HPTLC fingerprints are usually visually evaluated. When generated with standardized methodology, using suitable instruments and software, digital HPTLC fingerprints offer the necessary reproducibility for deeper exploitation of the data and for quantitative evaluation.
Quantitative TLC exists since the 60’s when the first instruments for scanning densitometry were commercialized. At the end of the 20th century, with the onset of the digital age and introduction of digital cameras, quantitative image evaluation became possible. Low cost and readily available software make this concept very attractive. The software includes Microsoft Paint, Sorbfil TLC Videodensitometer, UN-SCAN-IT, JustTLC, ImageJ, TLSee, The Gimp, VideoScan, and visionCATS.
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