Capillary electrophoretic determination of sanguinarine and chelerythrine in plant extracts and pharmaceutical preparations

Capillary electrophoresis was employed to determine the principal quaternary benzoc]phenanthridine alkaloids, sanguinarine and chelerythrine, in two plant extracts and one oral hygiene product. Phosphate-Tris buffer of pH 2.5 was used as a background electrolyte, limits of detection were 3 micromol/l(-1) (sanguinarine) and 2.4 micromol,l(-1) (chelerythrine) using UV detection at 270 nm. The method, which correlated well with HPLC, is suitable for serial determination of sanguinarine and chelerythrine in plant products and pharmaceuticals.