Determination of alkaloids amount from Iranian Papaver bracteatum Lindl. by HPLC

Background & Aim: Papaver bracteatum Lindl.  (Papaverace) is an important pharmaceutical plant which contains isoqinoline alkaloids. Isoqinoline alkaloids constitute one distinct group of secondary metabolites of the Papaverace family. Codeine and thebaine are important alkaloids of Papaver bracteatum which use widely due to its medicinal properties. Therefore it is necessary to determination the contents of these alkaloids in different parts of Iran. In order to determine the best natural habitat of Papaver bracteatum, containing the highest concentration of  thebaine and codein different sample collected from different parts of Iran. Experimental: Using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) standard curve with the presence of two major alkaloids (thebaine and codeine) were drawn and alkaloids were extracted from capsule Papaver bracteatum and were determined by HPLC. Results & Discussion: Codeine contents in the sample of dry capsule Zanjan, Plour, Chalus road, Siah Bisheh, and Mazandaran were determined 0.04, 0.04, 0.03, 0.01 and 0.02% respectively. Thebaine content was determined 3.3, 0.61, 0.34, 0.31 and 0.06% respectively. Amounts of codeine for different regions ranged between 0.001 to 0.004% and, 0.06 to 3.3% for thebaine. The accessions collected from Zanjan has highest percentage of codeine and  thebaine (3.34%) Industrial/Practical recommendation: The capsules collected from region of Zanjan in Iran have more contents of  thebaine and codeine which possess many pharmaceutical applications, therefore it is highly recommended using accessions from the region of Zanjan to extract  thebaine and codeine consumed in the pharmaceutical industry.