Colorimetric assay of strychnine and brucine in nux vomica

Two colorimetric methods are described for the estimation of strychnine and brucine in nux vomica. The first is a modification of the Karawya and Ghourab method for the determination of strychnine, in which the sensitivity of the color is increased by changing certain conditions of the method. The second was developed for the determination of brucine and is based on measuring the intensity of the violet color produced by treating brucine with nitric acid and methanolic stannous chloride. In the presence of large amounts of strychnine, brucine is isolated prior to colorimetric analysis by a quantitative thin layer chromatographic technique.