Spectrophotometric determination of total alkaloids in some Iranian medicinal plants

A simple spectrophotometric method based on the reaction with Bromocresol Green [BCG] has been developed for determination of total alkaloids in medicinal plants. A yellow complex forms and is easily extractable by chloroform at pH 4.7. The absorbance of the complex obeys Bear's law over the concentration range of 4-13 micro g atropine per mL of choloroform. This procedure can be carried out in the presence of other compounds without interference