Combination of coagulant-assisted and SPE purification for the HPLC determination of lycorine and galanthamine in various foods

Abstract

A simple high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the analysis of lycorine and galanthamine, typical alkaloids of narcissus, in food. Samples were extracted with sonication using water containing poly-aluminium chloride (PAC) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a solvent followed by solid phase extraction (SPE) with hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced (HLB) cartridge. Elution of the analytes was achieved with 0.1 v/v% formic acid kept at 95 °C. Purification with PAC, which is normally used as a coagulant, was successfully combined with SPE, demonstrated the perfect strategy for the removal of interfering substances from the foods. Separation of the analytes was achieved on reversed phase C18 column. The analytes were monitored doubly at wavelengths of 240 and 290 nm for the detection. The method demonstrated excellent linearity with coefficients of determination (r(2)) higher than 0.999 over the range of 0.2–20 µg ml−1 for both lycorine and galanthamine. Limits of quantification (LOQs) of the method were in the range of 0.15–0.52 µg ml−1. Method performance was evaluated, demonstrated to have quantitative recoveries of 92.8–98.9% with satisfactory intra-day precision of lower than 3.7% and inter-day precision of lower than 5.0%. The method was also applied to a wide variety of foods with complex matrices, indicated the potential of practical use in plant poisoning caused by narcissus contaminated foods.