Spectrophotometric determination of total alkaloids in some Iranian medicinal plants

Abstract

A simple spectrophotometric method based on the reaction with Bromocresol Green (BCG) was developed for determination of total alkaloids in medicinal plants. A yellow complex forms and is easily extractable by chloroform at pH 4.7. The absorbance of the complex obeys Bear 's law over the concentration range of 4-13 μg atropine per mL of chloroform. This procedure can be carried out in the presence of other compounds without interference.