Quantitative analysis of alkaloids from Cinchona bark by high-performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

A procedure has been developed for the extraction and quantitative analysis of the major alkaloids from Cinchona bark using high-performance liquid chromatography. The method uses a commercial octylsilyl-bonded column, recommended for basic compounds, in the reversed-phase mode. The method is reproducible (relative standard deviation approximately 4% for each alkaloid) and gives quantitative recovery of alkaloids added to bark samples (100–103%). A variety of different types of bark have been studied successfully in the validation scheme. The method can be extended to the analysis of some minor alkaloids which are of interest in the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways of alkaloid production.