SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF IMPORTANT ALKALOIDS IN PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM USING REVERSED PHASE HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Abstract

A simple and rapid method for the quantitation of eight pharmacologically important drugs, morphine (1), codeine (2), oripavine (3), codeinone (4), reticuline (5), thebaine (6), papaverine (7), and narcotine (8), in Papaver somniferum samples by reversed phase liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection is described. The separation of these compounds was performed with acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH maintained to 3.8 using acetic acid) (20 : 80) using a Durasil C₁₈ column with 10-μm particles (250 mm × 4.6 mm I.D.).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are thankful to Prof. H. Rapoport, University of California, Berkeley, USA, and Prof. E. Brochmann- Hanssen, San Rafael, CA, USA, for the generous gifting of codeinone, reticuline, and oripavine.