title: Quantification of the antiplasmodial alkaloid carpaine in papaya (Carica papaya) leaves.
abstract: Daily consumption of papaya (Carica papaya) leaves as greens and an herbal infusion is common in some parts of Indonesia as a means for preventing malaria. Antiplasmodial activity of the leaf extracts and of the main alkaloid carpaine were recently confirmed. A quantitative assay for determination of carpaine in papaya leaves was developed and validated. The assay involved pressurized liquid extraction and quantification with the aid of ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy. Extraction conditions were optimized with respect to solvent, temperature, and number of extraction cycles. The ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy assay was validated over a range of 20-5000 ng/mL (R(2) of 0.9908). A total of 29 papaya leaf samples were analyzed, and carpaine concentration in dry leaves was found to range from 0.02 to 0.31%. No obvious dependence on geographic origin and leaf maturity was observed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Tasqiah
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Julianti
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mouhssin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oufir
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamburger
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D029441:Carica / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000962:Antimalarials; D010936:Plant Extracts; C018479:carpaine