Quantitative measurements of alkaloids in Chelidonium majus at different altitudes of north Iran

Chelidonium majus L. belonging to the Papaveraceae family، grows naturally in north of Iran with anti-cancer and anti-HIV properties because of isoquinoline alkaloids such as morphine، codeine، papaverine، thebaine and noscapine. The aim of this study was to quantify the amounts of the mentioned isoquinoline alkaloids in the samples collected from different altitudes of north of Iran، and investigate the effect of environmental factors on the amounts of these compounds. Therefore، five regions were selected including Mazandaran، Golestan، and Firoozkouh، and after quantitative measurements of alkaloids، the effect of altitude was also evaluated to determine its impact on the amount of these compounds. According to the obtained results، the maximum amount of the compounds mentioned above were 0. 25، 0. 18، 0. 02، 2. 14 and 0. 27 w/w، and the minimum were 0. 11، 0. 0، 0. 0، 0. 11 and 0. 0 w/w، respectively. Altitude showed a significant negative correlation (p<0. 01) with the amount of these compounds.