Alkaloids are present in many plants, for example, when we buy yams, we find our hands itchy after peeling them. If our hands touch the face, neck, and other areas, they become extremely itchy and quickly turn red. This is when the skin comes into contact with the active ingredients in yams, including alkaloids. At this point, apply some vinegar and it will quickly relieve itching.
Alkaloids are a chemical component found in living organisms. Alkaloids should contain plant alkaloids, and alkaloids, like chemical components such as flavonoids and saponins, are a large group. Plant extracts do not refer to chemical components, but rather mixtures. Usually, plant alkaloids, plant saponins, flavonoids and other chemical components can be extracted from plants.
There are many kinds of alkaloids, and alkaloids with clear structures can be divided into dozens of types according to their chemical structures, and their basic commonalities are as follows:
(1) shape-pure alkaloids, most of which are crystalline solids and a few are amorphous powders. Some oxygen-free elements are liquid at room temperature, such as nicotine and hemlock.
(2) color-some are colorless compounds, some are colored compounds, such as berberine is yellow.
(3) odor-alkaloids or their salts are generally bitter and have no odor.
(4) Acidity-most alkaloids react in an alkaline way, which can turn red litmus paper blue. A few alkaloids are extremely weak in neutrality. In addition to basic nitrogen atoms, individual molecules also have acidic groups, such as phenolic hydroxyl groups or carboxyl groups, so they are acid-base amphoteric, such as morphine and arecoline.
(5) Solubility-biological alkaloids can be divided into water-insoluble alkaloids and water-soluble alkaloids, most of which are water-insoluble organisms. They are insoluble and insoluble in water, but can be dissolved in organic agents such as chlorine injury, ether, ethanol, acetone, etc., and can also be dissolved in aqueous solution of dilute acid to generate salts. Alkaloid salts are more soluble in water than in organic solvents. This property is widely used in the extraction, separation and purification of alkaloids.
(6) Precipitation reaction-Alkaloids have sensitive precipitation reaction to many reagents (mostly metal salts and macromolecular acids). Commonly used alkaloid precipitants include iodine reagent, potassium mercuric iodide reagent, potassium iodide reagent, mercuric chloride reagent, tannic acid reagent, picric acid reagent, copper molybdic acid reagent, silicotungstic acid reagent and so on. In the process of alkaloid precipitation, we should pay attention to the interference of protein and other components. Many alkaloids can produce various obvious color changes when they meet some reagents. The commonly used alkaloid color developers are concentrated sulfuric acid, concentrated nitric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid solution containing a small amount of formaldehyde, concentrated sulfuric acid solution containing a small amount of ammonium molybdate, and concentrated sulfuric acid solution containing 5% ammonium vanadate.
(7) Optical rotation-most alkaloids have optical rotation, and most of them have left optical rotation.
(8) Volatility-most alkaloids are not volatile under normal pressure and cannot be distilled with water vapor. Individual exceptions, such as ephedrine.
in conclusion,Alkaloids are a class of nitrogen-containing organic compounds that generally have similar properties and often have strong or special biological activities. They are active ingredients in many Chinese herbal medicines. So far, the vast majority of the more than 2000 alkaloids isolated by people come from plants, so they are often referred to as "plant alkaloids". Almost all alkaloids belong to the heterocyclic group of compounds, with complex molecular structures. Their elemental composition includes C, H, O, N, and nitrogen atoms are mostly in the ring. A few also have non oxygen-containing elements, such as arecoline, nicotine, resveratrol, etc.
Alkaloids usually exist in the cell sap of plants by combining with various organic acids to form salts, such as morphine and papaveric acid in opium; Quinine in the bark of cinchona trees binds to quinine tannic acid. Other alkaloids such as tannates, oxalates, citrate, tartrate, malate, etc. are more common. Alkaloids are widely present in dicotyledonous plants, less common in monocotyledonous plants, and less common in coniferous and cryptogamous plants. Plants in the Papaveraceae, Solanaceae, Fanghexiaceae, Rubiaceae, Ranunculaceae, Berberidaceae, Leguminosae, Oleander, and Lycoriaceae are particularly rich in biological compounds. Related plants often contain alkaloids with similar or identical chemical structures. A plant often contains more than one alkaloid, and the content of different parts of the same plant varies. For example, the content of camptothecin in the roots, stems, bark, leaves, and fruits of camptotheca acuminata varies, with the highest content being in the roots. During the year, the amount of alkaloids contained in plants often varies at different growth stages. The content of alkaloids in plant organs is very low, generally below 1%, but some can reach as high as 10-15%, such as the bark of golden pheasants.
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