COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CALCIUM IN PHARMACEUTICAL AND NUTRACEUTICAL PRODUCT BY CLASSICAL AND NON-CLASSICAL METHODS

Dr. K. Y. Kavitha*, Magesh S., Mohamed Wasim Akthar H. and Mohan R.

This study investigates the calcium content in two pharmaceutical products, calcium lactate (300 mg) and calcium gluconate (500 mg), and two nutraceutical dietary supplements, milk powder and yogurt, through both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis was performed using flame tests and visible spectrophotometry, with all samples showing a brick red flame color and a maximum absorbance wavelength of 520 nm, confirming the presence of calcium. Quantitative analysis was conducted using volumetric titration and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The results showed that the calcium content of calcium gluconate was 97.76% by UV spectroscopy and 96.41% by titration, while calcium lactate exhibited 100.33% and 98.64%, respectively. Milk powder and yogurt showed lower calcium contents of 12% and 18.1%, respectively in UV spectroscopy and with titration results of 9.33% and 15.2%. The comparison of classical methods (flame test and titration) with non-classical UV-visible spectrophotometry revealed that the latter is more efficient, offering a unified approach for both identification and quantification of calcium. The study concludes that visible spectrophotometric analysis provides a more streamlined and accurate means of assessing calcium content in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.