A herbal compress used in Thai massage has been modified for use in cellulite treatment. Its main active ingredients were ginger, black pepper, java long pepper, tea and coffee. The objective of this study was to develop and validate an HPLCQTOF-MS method for determining its active compounds, i.e., caffeine, 6-gingerol, and piperine in raw materials as well as in the formulation together with the flavouring agent, camphor. The four compounds were chromatographically separated. The analytical method was validated through selectivity, intra-, inter day precision, accuracy and matrix effect. The results showed that the herbal compress contained caffeine (2.16 mg/g), camphor (106.15 mg/g), 6-gingerol (0.76 mg/g), and piperine (4.19 mg/g). The chemical stability study revealed that herbal compresses retained >80% of their active compounds after 1 month of storage at ambient conditions. Our method can be used for quality control of the herbal compress and its raw materials.
