Studies on the Pharmaceutical Quality Evaluation of Crude Drug Preparations used in Orient Medicine "Kampoo". IV. Behavior of Alkaloids in Ephedra Herb mixed with Other Crude Drugs under Decoction Processes

Abstract

Titrimetric determination of alkaloids in commercial Ephedra herb was made by 3 extraction methods, using ether, MeOH, or hot water and the highest content was obtained by hot water extraction. High-speed liquid chromatographic determination was also made on the same samples, using 2 column materials, Bondapak C18 and .mu.Porasil, with MeOH:NH4OH (400:8) as the developing solvent. A good correlation was found between the values obtained by titrimetry and those by liquid chromatography. The recovery of ephedrine or alkaloids from the decoction of Ephedra herb added with Glycyrrhiza radix, cinnamon cortex, Armeniaca seeds, or their mixture (Maoo-to without Ephedra herb) ranged from 55-83%. The pH of these decoctions were below 7.0, where ephedrine and methylephedrine did not distill out with steam during decoction. Apparently the decrease in alkaloid recovery in Maoo-to originated in adsorption of these alkaloids on crude drug materials in the decoction solution.