JIST

Abstract

Butachlor, a selective systemic herbicide, was isolated, analyzed and detected in viscera obtained from medicolegal autopsy. Butachlor was extracted by using solvent extraction methods and then identified by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). For chromatographic separation, various solvent systems were used. Bromophenol blue was used as chromogenic reagent on developed TLC plates which successfully increased the sensitivity without dispensing with the simplicity of the method. For the study, a total of 15 solvent systems in different ratios were chosen. Of these, the best two solvent systems, namely, Benzene:Diethyl ether (8.5:1.5) and Hexane: Acetone (9:1) were chosen for statistical analysis, which included the calculation of mean Rf value and value of standard deviation and coefficient of variance.