Narcissus and Daffodil

11 Extraction and quantitative analysis
of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids
N.P. Dhammika Nanayakkara and Jairo K. Bastos
INTRODUCTION
Amaryllidaceae alkaloids represent a diverse class of natural bases that occur in
different species of the family Amaryllidaceae. Owing to their wide spectrum of
useful biological activities, these compounds have attracted the attention of both
chemists and biologists. Many Amaryllidaceae alkaloids have been isolated and
identified, and a number of methods to quantify them have been developed.
Galanthamine, a common alkaloid in this family (Figure 11.1), has shown cholinesterase
inhibitory activity and is currently undergoing clinical trials for the
treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Another member of this family, pancratistatin,
has shown a highly characteristic differential cytotoxicity profile against a panel of
human cancer cell lines and strong activity against RNA viruses. This compound is
undergoing development towards human clinical trials. In an effort to find new
sources of galanthamine (Tanahashi et al., 1990; Poulev et al., 1993; Bastos et al.,
1996) and pancratistatin (Pettit et al., 1995a,b), several species of Amaryllidaceae
have been examined.
In the early years, quantitative analytical studies of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids
were carried out using gravimetric methods. During the last four decades, several
other analytical procedures have been described. Most of these methods were
developed to quantify galanthamine in biological samples and natural sources.
Several sensitive, practical methods to analyse most common alkaloids of this class
in natural sources, simultaneously and quantitatively, were also reported. In this
chapter, procedures published over the last four decades are reviewed.
MeO
O
H
N
Me
OH
O
O
OH
Galanthamine Pancratistatin
Lycorine
HO
H
O
Figure 11.1 Chemical structures of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids with important biological
activities.
OH
H
NH
OH
OH
O
O
HO
H
OH
H
N