Within the past few years, phytotherapy and herbal drugs have attracted much attention. St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is one of the most popular medicinal plants used in traditional medicine all over Europe. According to traditional indications aqueous infusions from St. John's wort containing mainly hydrophilic components: flavonoid glycosides, tanning agents and phenolacids are used in gastrointestinal diseases. On the other hand, ethanolic extracts containing hypericin and hyperforin affect the CNS and are indicated for the treatment  of  mild depression-like mood disorders.

Different manufacturers use HPLC method or spectrophotometry method to test the quality of medicinal products containing St. John's wort herb. The result of hypericin determination in both methods is expressed as the hypericin content; however, in HPLC method it is the sum of hypericin and pseudohypericin, whereas in spectrophotometry - it is the sum of all derivatives of hypericin. Differences in analytical methods used to determine active substances and in reference materials are the reason why results are presented in a diversified manner, which makes it impossible to compare strength of products.

The work aimed to determine the levels of hypericins expressed as hypericin in the herbal substance of St. John's wort and medicinal products containing extract or powdered herb, by HPLC method. In addition, the amount of hypericins in the infusion prepared from St. John's wort was determined by HPLC and spectrophotometry methods. As evidenced by the study results, the daily dose of hypericins taken by a patients as infusions from St. John's wort herb is 0.30 mg-0.35 mg and it can be compared to the daily dose of hypericins in tablets and capsules indicated for mild depression-like disorders that is 0.29 mg - 0.64 mg.

As a result of lack of a consistent approache to the presentation of the strength of herbal medicinal products confirmed by consistent analytical methods, there is a risk that some indications are omitted in patient information leaflet. As a result of the introduction of a consistent uniformity method to determine hypericins in raw material, preparations and products containing St. John's wort herb using certified reference standards, it would be possible to determine the contents of these substances in products and their strengths in a reliable and unambiguous way.

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