Abstract
A total of 22 commercial Ephedra herba samples which belonged to Ephedra sinica, E. intermedia, E. equisetina, and E. distachya, respectively, were collected from the Taiwan herbal market. The contents of the
six ephedrine alkaloids - ephedrine (E), pseudoephedrine (PE), methylephedrine (ME),
methyl-pseudoephedrine (MPE), norephedrine (NE), and nor-pseudoephedrine (NPE) - in
these samples were determined by capillary electrophoresis and were found to differ
greatly among the samples. Generally, E. sinica was superior (1.594 ± 0.467%) and E. intermedia was inferior (1.210 ± 0.372%). Among the individual constituents, the sum of E and
PE contents in each sample was about nine-tenths of the total alkaloids, and the ratios
of E/PE, ME/MPE, and NE/NPE in the given species were definite and could be used to
aid in identifying the origin of the herbs. The alkaloid contents were found to be
higher in the internodes of the herbs and in those items with thin stems, more powdery
and less fibrous characters. There were no indications for alkaloids in the roots
of the plants.
Key words
Ephedrae herba - ephedrine alkaloids - alkaloid contents - capillary electrophoresis
