RESUMO
It is important to study the stability of plant extracts used as active ingredients in phytotherapic medicine, as degradation of the active principles directly affects the efficacy and safety of these products. Therefore, a stability study of the hydroalcoholic extract of the species: Mikania glomerata and Mikania laevigata was conducted in order to determine the speed of degradation and shelf life of these extracts, which are incorporated in cough syrup in Brazil. Leaves of both species were dried in an oven or by lyophilization (freeze-dried). Hydroalcoholic extracts underwent both accelerated stability study of six months and long-term stability study for 12 months. Samples were stored at different temperatures and every three months were analysed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) to monitor their chemical profile, quantifying coumarin and chlorogenic acid. For all conditions of the study, a reduction of the content of the chemical marker of this species, coumarin, greater than 5% was observed, so a shelf life of two years cannot be assigned to the hydroalcoholic extracts of these species as observed in commercial extracts.