Quantitative Analysis of l-Hyoscyamine in Hyoscyamus reticulatus L. by GC-MS

The routine quality control of a herbal drug preparation requires the identification and determination of the contents of the active ingredients in the product. Measurement alone is not sufficient; it is also necessary to know how objectively to evaluate the experimental results . There are 6 Hyoscyamus (Solanaceae) species growing in Turkey, none of which are endemic. Hyoscyamus (Solanaceae) species are rich sources of tropane alkaloids, mainly hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which are widely used for their mydriatic, antispasmodic, anticholinergic, analgesic and sedative properties. Tropane alkaloids have been analyzed by many methods including aqueous and non-aqueous titrimetry, UV, visible spectrophotometry, TLC5−7, gas chromatography (GC)7−10, GC/MS, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)8,12−18, capillary zone electrophoresis and immunological methods. The total alkaloid content of the Hyoscyamus species of Anatolia was determined by a colorimetric method to be 0.011-0.027% for the leaves and 0.417%, for the roots of H. reticulatus. Abuse of Hyoscyamus by children and poisoning cases have been reported in Turkey. The incidence of plant poisoning in Turkey is about 6% and is especially high among children ∗Corresponding author