Study on chromatographic behavior of opium poppy alkaloids

The excessive and continuously growing interest in the simultaneous determination of opium poppy alkaloids imposes the development and optimization of convenient high-throughput methods for assessment of the qualitative and quantitative profile of alkaloids in poppy straw. Systematic optimization of several chromatographic methods (GC/FID/MS, RP-HPLC/DAD, Si-HILIC/DAD and ZIC-HILIC/DAD) for the separation of the major alkaloids (morphine, codeine, thebaine, oripavine, papaverine and noscapine) present in opium poppy straw (Papaver somniferum L., Papaveraceae) was carried out using Design of Experiments. By conducting the optimization of the methods in rational manner, great deal of excessive and unproductive laboratory research work was avoided. The developed methods were validated and compared in line with the resolving power, sensitivity, accuracy, speed, cost, ecological aspects and compatibility with the poppy straw extraction procedure. The proposed methods provide both a fast screening and an accurate content assessment of the alkaloids in the poppy samples obtained from the selection program of Papaver strains.