Value addition and determination of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) in seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia
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Date
2003-11-28
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Abstract
The aromatic amino acid. 5-1-lydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is naturally present in seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia. a West African medicinal plant found principally in Ghana. Ivory Coast and Togo. The overwhelming advantages it has over synthetic anti-depressants and tryptophan in alleviating the numerous effects o serotonin deficiency syndrome such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and migraine headaches among others have attracted the commercialization of Griffonia simplicifolia seeds.
However effective commercialization of the seeds requires quality control checks in order to be sure that the active drug substance, 5-HTP is present at high levels and stable in the harvested seeds. In this research work the 5-1ITP content in the seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia was determined by using HPLC. Using an ODS column with dimension of 4.6mm x 25cm. a mobile phase of 3% methanol in 0.005M NaH2PO4 buffer (pH 4.8), a flow rate of I .5ml/min and UV detector at 275nm, 5-HTP eluted at an average retention time (Rt) of 6.60mm. This is important for quick assays of bulk batches of samples for quality control checks and export purposes. The levels of 5-HTP in Griffonia simplicifolia seeds collected from various locations a Ghana were found to be between 14.1 8 - I 8.24%w/w of seed weight when freshly harvested.
The level of 5-HTP in harvested seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia was found to decrease at a rate of 4.62%w/w per month of storage under tropical atmospheric conditions. However, stability studies showed that refrigeration could not preserve 5-HTP in seeds. Cold storage was found to decrease the content of 5-HTP at an average rate of 6.77%w/w per month. On the other hand, it was found that heating seeds at 60°C for 30mm is enough to inactivate enzymes and hence preserve 5-HTP in Griffonia simplicifolia seeds. The average rate of fall in 5-HTP content was l.79%\w/w per month.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Health Sciences, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, 2003