Planta Med 2014; 80 - PPL5
DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1382641

Characterization of alkaloids from Rauwolfia species (R. serpentina & R. vomitoria) using UHPLC-QToF-MS

S Sagi 1, B Avula 1, YH Wang 1, IA Khan 1, 2, 3
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Rauwolfia species is a rich source of secondary metabolites such as indole alkaloids belonging to family Apocynaceae. These plants have been used in India for many years to treat various diseases especially in reducing high blood pressure. Chromatographic separation was achieved using Poroshell 120 EC-C8 (100 × 2.1 mm, 2.7µ) column and mobile phase consists of acetonitrile and water, both containing 0.1% formic acid. Eight known compounds (rauwolscine, ajmaline, yohimbine, corynanthine, ajmalicine, serpentine, serpentinine, reserpine) and unknown alkaloids from R. serpentina and R. vomitoria was characterized by using UHPLC-MS-QToF. In MS2 experiment most of the compounds exhibited fragment ion at m/z 144 which is a characteristic peak for indole alkaloids. Nine plant samples of Rauwolfia species and 14 commercial products were analyzed in this study.

Fig. 1