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

 
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Sample Analysis
The method [8, 12] was applied to simultaneously identify and quantify ly-
corine and galanthamine in 
G. woronowii
specimens. Detection of these alka-
loids was accomplished by comparison of the retention times and UV spec-
tra with those of standard compounds. Under the above-mentioned chro-
matographic conditions, lycorine and galanthamine were resolved within 
approximately 9 min 
(Figs 3 and
4)
. Quantitative determination was carried 
out by the external standard method based on peak areas. The results of the 
mean values of three replicate injections of the two compounds were re-
ported in 
Table V
. Significant variation in the contents of both alkaloids was 
found in the analyzed samples. The lycorine content ranged between 0.008 
and 0.364%. The highest content was detected in the bulbs of 
G. woronowii 
collected from Kemalpasa, Hopa, Artvin. The galanthamine content in the 
tested specimens ranged between 0.003 and 0.506%, and the highest amount 
was found in the bulbs of 
G. woronowii
collected from Arhavi, Artvin. 
Table V.
Contents of lycorine and galanthamine in 
G. woronowii 
Sample ID 
Content of lycorine (%) 
Content of galanthamine (%) 
GW-1
B
0.069 ± 0.002 
0.124 ± 0.004 
GW-1
H
0.028 ± 0.001 
0.071 ± 0.002 
GW-2
B
0.077 ± 0.002 
0.506 ± 0.014 
GW-2
H
0.008 ± 0.0004 
0.128 ± 0.003 
GW-3
B
0.038 ± 0.001 
0.244 ± 0.006 
GW-3
H
0.070 ± 0.002 
0.326 ± 0.008 
GW-4
B
0.101 ± 0.001 
0.197 ± 0.002 
GW-4
H
0.045 ± 0.001 
0.089 ± 0.002 
GW-5
B
0.071 ± 0.002 
0.094 ± 0.002 
GW-5
H
0.052 ± 0.001 
0.087 ± 0.002 
GW-6
B
0.364 ± 0.007 
0.017 ± 0.0005 
GW-6
H
0.234 ± 0.006 
0.003 ± 0.0002 
GW-7
B
0.051 ± 0.002 
0.160 ± 0.005 
GW-7
H
0.067 ± 0.001 
0.266 ± 0.004 
Fig. 3
. HPLC chromatogram of mixed standards lycorine and galanthamine 

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Simultaneous Determination of Lycorine and Galanthamine
763 
Fig. 4
. HPLC chromatogram of an extract of 
G. woronowii
Conclusion 
Quantitative determination of lycorine and galanthamine in 
G. woronowii
was achieved in the present study. The employed method has several ad-
vantages including simple and rapid sample preparation, requirement of a 
small amount of plant material, and a simple mobile phase. The method 
was also validated with respect to linearity, intra and inter-day precision, 
recovery, and limits of detection and quantification. Validation studies 
demonstrated that the method could simultaneously determine lycorine 
and galanthamine in 
G. woronowii
samples, which provided an efficient and 
reliable method for the quality control of 
G. woronowii
. Previously, the con-
tents of these two alkaloids in several 
Galanthus 
species [9, 16, 23, 24] have 
been reported; however, to the best of our knowledge this is the first report 
on the quantification of these alkaloids in 
G. woronowii
of Turkish origin.