Piper longum Linn. belongs to piperaceae family, is a renowned plant in the field of Ayurveda. Adulteration and substitution may affect the quality of Ayurvedic formulation. Standardization of Ayurvedic preparation is essential for further therapeutic results and for global acceptance. Hence, chromatographic fingerprint profiles were carried out for establishing the standards. TLC studies for methanolic extracts of the fruits of Piper longum were carried out in two different solvent systems, Toluene: Ethyl acetate: Diethyl ether (10:3:1) and Benzene: Ethyl acetate: Diethyl ether (6:3:1). The developed plates were dried in air, visualized in UV at wavelengths 254 nm and 366 nm and photographed. Results provide valuable clue regarding their polarity and selection of the solvents for separation of phytochemicals. Fingerprinting of methanolic extract of fruits of revealed the presence of various phytochemicals in UV at 254 nm and 366 nm. Fingerprint profile is quite helpful in setting up of standards and thus to keep a check on intentional/unintentional adulteration. TLC offers major advantages over other conventional chromatographic techniques such as unsurpassed flexibility (especially stationary and mobile phase), choice of detection wavelength, user friendly, rapid and cost effective/economical.

Keywords: Piper longum Linn., Ayurvedic formulation, Standardization, Thin layer chromatography.