Planta Med 2015; 81 - PA22
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1545151

Quantification of alkaloids from roots of Rauwolfia species and dietary supplements using UHPLC-UV

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.
  • 2Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

A new rapid UHPLC-UV method has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of eight alkaloids [rauwolscine (1), ajmaline (2), yohimbine (3), corynanthine (4), ajmalicine (5), serpentine (6), serpentinine (7), and reserpine (8)] from the root samples of Rauwolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex Kurz and R. vomitoria Afzel. The chromatographic separation was achieved using a reversed phase C18 column with a mobile phase of water and acetonitrile, both containing 0.05% formic acid. The method is validated for linearity, accuracy, repeatability, limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ). Six plant samples and 16 dietary supplements claiming to contain Rauwolfia roots were analyzed and content of total alkaloids (1 – 8) varied from 4.7 – 12.2 mg/g dry plant material and 0 – 0.9 mg/day respectively. The results indicated that commercial products are of variable quality.

Fig. 1: Total alkaloidal content from Rauwolfia plant samples and dietary supplements