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Abstract
A simple method based on micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) was developed to enable the simultaneous determination of norharmane, harmane, harmol, harmalol, harmine, and harmaline in phytotherapic samples of Passiflora incarnata L., Passiflora alata Dryander and urine with virtually no sample preparation. Chromatographic separation was performed under 30 min using a C18 HPLC column and isocratic elution with an aqueous micellar mobile phase (phosphate buffer pH 8.0 containing 220 mmol L−1 of sodium dodecyl sulfate and 0.5% of triethylamine) containing only 3% (v/v) of acetonitrile. Fluorescence detection allowed limits of quantification below 4.5 ng g−1. Recoveries in controlled samples were close to 100% and the sample analysis enabled the quantification of harmol as the principal β-carboline found in the phytotherapic samples, whereas another three were detected. In urine samples, the determination of harmol was made after 8 hours of drug ingestion. Both repeatability and intermediary precision, for all alkaloids, were between 0.1 and 5%.