Simultaneous determination of lycorine and galanthamine in Galanthus woronowii by hplc-dad

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Acta Chromatographica 25(2013)4, 755–764 
DOI: 10.1556/AChrom.25.2013.4.13
0231–2522 © 2013 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest
Simultaneous Determination of Lycorine and 
Galanthamine in 
Galanthus woronowii
 by 
HPLC–DAD
 
A.
 
E
MIR
,
 
D.
 
C
ICEK 
P
OLAT
,
 
G.I.
 
K
AYA
,
 
B.
 
S
ARIKAYA
,
 
M.A.
 
O
NUR
,
 AND 
 
N.
 
U
NVER 
S
OMER
*
 
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University,
35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey 
E-mail: [e-mail]; [e-mail]
 
Summary. 
Galanthamine, used as a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and 
lycorine possessing important biological properties, are widely distributed alkaloids in 
the members of Amaryllidaceae family. In the present study, the contents of these alka-
loids
 
have been quantitatively determined by high-performance liquid chromatography 
(HPLC) coupled with diode array detector (DAD) in the aerial parts and bulbs of 
Galan-
thus woronowii
Losinsk. collected from different localities in Northeastern Turkey.
A simple extraction method utilizing columns pre-packed with diatomaceous earth (Ex-
trelut®) was used. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an isocratic system 
with a mobile phase of trifluoroacetic acid–water–acetonitrile (0.01:90:10) applied at a 
flow rate of 1 mL min
−
1
. Validation studies were also carried out to show that the 
method is specific, accurate, and precise. In the tested specimens, the lycorine content 
ranged between 0.008 and 0.364% whereas the galanthamine content was found to be be-
tween 0.003 and 0.506%.