Abstract
Summary A rapid, simple, and practical high-performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC) was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of norephedrine (NME), norpseudoephedrine (NMP), ephedrine (E), pseudoephedrine (PE), and methylephedrine (ME) in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) which contained Ephedrae Herba (Ephedra). This analysis could be accomplished within 12.5 min with an Alltima Phenyl Column by isocratic elution using a mixture of KH2PO4 (20 mM)-acetonitrile (96:4, v/v) as the mobile phase at a flow-rate of 0.6 mL min−1 and a wavelength of 210 nm. This method was successfully applied to quantify ephedra alkaloids in both Ma-xing-gan-shi decoction and Ephedra decoction. The concentration of total ephedra alkaloids (4.62 mg mL−1) in Ma-xing-gan-shi decoction was much lower than that (7.10 mg mL−1) in Ephedra decoction. Furthermore, the concentration of NME, NMP, E, PE, and ME was significantly lower in Ma-xing-gan-shi decoction than that in Ephedra decoction, respectively. The method was easily acceptable and would be popular with most analytical laboratories.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
