Narcissus and Daffodil

Analysis of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids 299
and CGC have emerged as the most accurate and practical analytical procedures
to determine these compounds in natural sources and in biological samples.
HPLC was the most widely used technique for this purpose, especially when only
one constituent was quantified. Due to the presence of at least one aromatic ring in
their chemical structures, Amaryllidaceae alkaloids can be conveniently quantified
with high sensitivity by a UV or a fluorescence detector. This method is not always
suitable for the routine analysis of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids in natural sources.
Usually, alkaloid fractions of Amaryllidaceae contain complex mixtures of compounds
with diverse chemical structures and polarities. It is often difficult to
achieve good resolution of these mixtures with reasonable peak shapes, even with
complex solvent programming. The resolution and peak shapes for a mixture of
standards also appear to vary widely under identical experimental conditions for
commercially available reversed-phase columns with similar specifications from
different suppliers.
CGC appears to be a better technique for the simultaneous quantification of
several different alkaloids in natural sources. Amaryllidaceae alkaloids can be
analysed by this method without any prior derivatisation. However, the method is
not applicable to quaternary alkaloids and alkaloid N-oxides. Compounds usually
show very sharp peaks and can be detected using a flame ionisation detector
(FID), a nitrogen phosphorus detector (NPD) or mass spectrometry (MS). A very
high resolution, even for complex mixtures of alkaloids, can be achieved with
relatively short capillary columns within a reasonable experimental time. Two of
the most common Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, haemanthamine and lycorine, were
reported to undergo partial decomposition under GC experimental conditions.
These compounds still appear as relatively sharp single peaks, with good concentration/response
linearity in a wide range of concentrations, and can be quantified
reproducibly. These analyses can be performed with little sample preparation,
and are suitable for routine quantitative analysis of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids in
natural sources. Useful information on these two analytical procedures is summarised
in Table 11.1.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We express our gratitude to Dr. Larry Walker for his many suggestions and for
reviewing the manuscript.
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