The South African plant, Sceletium tortuosum, has been found to contain alkaloids of the mesembrine class that alter the mental state of humans. These four compounds are mesembrine, mesembrenol, mesembranol, and mesembrenone. These alkaloids work by acting as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s), which in turn enhance the mood of the recipient. Mood enhancement compounds are of interest, as cases of depression and anxiety are on the rise in the United States today. Developing efficient separation and isolation methods of the mesembrine compounds in Sceletium tortuosum will aid in the advancement of pharmaceutical mesembrine production. This work will present a method for the extraction and purification of these mesembrine compounds from the milled plant material. To properly separate these compounds, extraction of the compounds will be confirmed using Thin Layer Chromatography and Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The four mesembrine compounds were properly identified by GC-MS and the theoretical concentrations of each extraction were calculated using calibration curves. Future work will involve developing calibration curves using internal standards as well as more efficient extraction and separation techniques. In addition, milligram amounts of the alkaloids will be separated and isolated for eventual pharmacological activity studies. Ultimately, dosage studies will be performed utilizing mice to obtain optimum dosage levels with the eventual goal of producing a natural pharmaceutical to be used to combat depression and anxiety.

Analysis and characterization of mesembrine type alkaloids obtained from Sceletium tortuosum

251st National Meeting (2016)

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