Production of total ergot alkaloids by Claviceps fusiformis in solid state fermentation was 3.9 times higher compared to that in submerged fermentation. Production was equal in the case of Claviceps purpurea but the spectra of alkaloids were advantageous with the use of solid state fermentation. The data establish potential of solid state fermentation which was not explored earlier for producti...

Currently, the Annonaceae family is characterised by the production of acetogenins (ACGs), and also by the biosynthesis of alkaloids, primarily benzylisoquinolines derived from tyrosine. The objective of this study was to confirm the presence of alkaloids and acetogenins in the idioblasts of the endosperm and the embryonic axis of A. macroprophyllata seeds in germination. The Dragendorff, Dittm...

Many organisms use chemical defenses to reduce predation risk. Aposematic dendrobatid frogs sequester alkaloid-based chemical defenses from a diet of arthropods, but research on these defenses has been limited to adults. Herein, we investigate chemical defense across development in a dendrobatid frog, Oophaga pumilio. This species displays complex parental care: at hatching, mothers transport t...

Parents defend their young in many ways, including provisioning chemical defences. Recent work in a poison frog system offers the first example of an animal that provisions its young with alkaloids after hatching or birth rather than before. But it is not yet known whether maternally derived alkaloids are an effective defence against offspring predators. We identified the predators of Oophaga p...

The pyrrolizidine alkaloids previously identified in floral honey attributed to Echium vulgare (Boraginaceae) have been detected (8000-14 000 ppm) in pure pollen collected from the anthers of Echium vulgare. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids and/or their N-oxides were isolated from the aqueous acid extracts of pollen by use of strong cation-exchange, solid-phase extraction and identified by liquid chroma...

There are three types of opiate alkaloids. First, the poppy alkaloids: morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine and papaverine; then, the semi-synthetic and synthetic derivatives used in therapy as antitussives and analgesics, such as pholcodine, ethylmorphine and dextromethorphan; at last narcotic compounds, diacetylmorphine (heroin) and opiates employed as substitutes in treatment of addiction:...

A reverse phase ultra performance liquid chromatography and photodiode array (UPLC-PDA) detection method was established for the determination of six alkaloids in Zoagumhwan (ZGW), and further for investigating the influence of nonpolar substances on the extraction efficiency of these alkaloids. The method was based on a BEH C(18) (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) column and mobile phase of aqueous phos...

Bioactivity-guided fractionation was used to determine the cytotoxic alkaloids from the toxic plant Peganum harmala. Two novel indole alkaloids, together with ten known ones, were isolated and identified. The novel alkaloids were elucidated to be 2-(indol-3-yl)ethyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (2) and 3-hydroxy-3-(N-acetyl-2-aminoethyl)-6-methoxyindol-2-one (3). The cytotoxi...

Cocaine, atropine and scopolamine are the three most important alkaloids in the tropane group. The detection of these alkaloids and their metabolites, at trace levels in biological matrices, is reviewed. These matrices include human and rat physiological fluids such as blood, urine, and saliva as well as human body tissue and hair. The detection, isolation, and determination of cocaine and rela...

I t is known that the alkaloids are very strong poisons. Their poisoning power can be compared only with that of the glucosides, the hormones, the saponins, HCN, and some bacterial toxins. The alkaloids are sufficiently studied physiologically, and in relation to their chemical structure, but what chemical substances enter in combination with them in the body and in the cell is wholly obscure. ...