A NOTE ON DETERMINATION OF EPHEDRINE IN EPHEDRA BY NONAQUEOUS TITRATION

A simplified nonaqueous titration method for determination of Ephedrine in Ephedra is proposed: Weigh 10gm of fine powdered Ephedra,add 40ml of 1N HCl and heat on a water bath for one hour. After cooling, add NaOH solution and 100 ml of chloroform.Shake the mixture for 15 min.,add 6gm of tragaganth powder and shake vigorously for 5 min. further. Filter and measure 50 ml of the chloroform filtrate,equivalent to 5 gm of sample,then titrate with 0.1N acetous perchloric acid using crystal violet as indicator. The result obtained by the above-method is in agreement with those obtained by the official method adopted in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia,and it can be applied for ephedrine tablets and ampoules.