Simultaneous determination of synephrine, arecoline, and norisoboldine in Chinese patent medicine Si-Mo-Tang oral liquid preparation by strong cation exchange high performance liquid chromatography.

Context: Chinese patent medicine Si-Mo-Tang oral liquid preparation (SMT) is composed of Aucklandia luppa Decne (Compositae), Citrus aurantium Linn (Rutaceae), Lindera aggregata (Sims) Kosterm (Lauraceae), and Areca catechu Linn (Arecaceae). Studies of SMT have been impeded due to the lack of quality control methods.

Objective: This study aimed to simultaneously determine three alkaloids including synephrine, arecoline, and norisoboldine in SMT for the first time.