Separation of opium alkaloids by carbon dioxide sub- and supercritical fluid chromatography with packed columns. Application to the quantitative analysis of poppy straw extracts.

The optimization of the separation of seven opium alkaloids by sub- and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) using packed columns and carbon dioxide as the primary mobile phase was studied. The influence of aminated polar modifiers on bare and aminopropyl-bonded silica was investigated. It was found that the presence of an amine in the mobile phase could enhance the retention of alkaloids on aminopropylsilica. Various separation schemes were possible depending on the type of analysis needed. An aminopropyl-bonded silica used with a carbon dioxide-methanol-triethylamine-water mixture (82.95:16.25:0.50:0.30, w/w) gave a very rapid separation (2 min). A bare silica with a carbon dioxide-methanol-methylamine-water mixture (83.37:16.25:0.15:0.23, w/w) gave longer analysis (10 min) but a higher resolution. This last procedure was applied to a poppy straw extract and to the determination of three alkaloids of interest after a peak purity study using a diode-array UV detector. For these alkaloids, SFC appears to be a promising technique for the routine analysis of opium alkaloids.

Fatal intoxications in Denmark following intake of morphine from opium poppies.

In Denmark it is legal to grow opium poppies for the production of poppy seeds and until 1986 for decoration purposes, too. Danish poppy capsules contain 0.3-5 mg morphine per capsule and the content of morphine in opium exuded from the capsules may amount to 24%. This has resulted in misuse as both fresh and dried poppy capsules have been used for the production of "opium tea". During the period 1982-1985, seven casualties occurred among drug addicts in Denmark which were solely or partly caused by these opium poppies.

Estudo comparativo da Centella asiatica importada com C. erecta colhida no campus da UFJF / Comparative study of imported Centella asiatica with C. erecta from UFJF campus

A Centella asiatica (Linn) Urban (Hidrocotyle asiatica) pertence a familia Umbelliferae, e tambem conhecida como Cairussu, Pata de Cavalo, Coayrussu, Codagem, Centela e Centela da Asia (1). Originaria da India, e igualmente encontrada na Africa, Ilhas do Oceano Indico, principalmente em Madagascar (2) e em todo o Brasil, especialmente nos terrenos arenosos do litoral. Seu uso tem sido descrito nao somente como coadjuvante no tratamento de lesoes da pele e como diuretico, mas tambem no tratamento da sifilis e da lepra. Sua utilizacao como acelerador de cicatrizacao (3) e bioestimulante no combate a celulite tem sido justificada pela capacidade que apresenta de fixar dois aminoacidos fundamentais na estrutura do colageno - alanina e prolina - favorecendo o processo reparador do tecido, propriedade esta atribuida a fracao total triterpenica da Centella asiatica (4). A fracao total triterpenica da planta e constituida pelos acidos asiatico e madecassico e seus glicosideos, dos quais atribui-se maior importancia ao asiaticosideo - 2a, 3B, 23-trihydroxyurus-12-en-28-oico acido o-6-deoxy-a-L-mannopyranosyl-(1-4)-O-B-D-glycopiranosil-(1-6)-O-B-D-glicopyranosyl ester (5). No campus da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora foi colhida amostra de uma especie identificada como Centella erecta (6) e sua comparacao com a C. asiatica foi efetuada. Buscou-se basicamente determinar a existencia dos componentes da fracao total triterpenica na especie brasileira, a concentracao dos mesmos e a possibilidade da utilizacao da planta em preparacoes farmaceuticas, em substituicao aquela importada