Simultaneous determination of Ephedra sinica and Citrus aurantium var. amara alkaloids by ion-pair chromatography

Ephedra sinica (Ma Huang) preparations have recently gained a lot of attention because of serious side effects associated with their prolonged consumption. Citrus aurantium var. amara is now used as an alternative, despite the fact that similar side effects are suspected. We have developed and validated the first analytical procedure for the simultaneous determination of all major alkaloids from both species. Using the ion-pairing reagent SDS, a C-18 stationary phase (3mum material) and a pH-gradient for elution enabled the baseline separation of six alkaloids ((+/-)-octopamine, (+/-)-synephrine, tyramine, (-)-norephedrine, (+)-pseudoephedrine and (-)-ephedrine) within less than 30min. The method is sensitive (LOD