Edgar F Moran-Palacio1,
Orlando Tortoledo-Ortiz2,
Grelda A Yañez-Farias1,
Luis A Zamora-Álvarez1,
Norma A Stephens-Camacho3,
José G Soñanez-Organis1,
Luisa M Ochoa-López1,
Jesús A Rosas-Rodríguez1 
For correspondence:- Jesús Rosas-Rodríguez Email: jrosas@navojoa.uson.mx Tel:+526424259952
Received: 14 June 2013 Accepted: 2 February 2014 Published: 23 April 2014
Citation: Moran-Palacio EF, Tortoledo-Ortiz O, Yañez-Farias GA, Zamora-Álvarez LA, Stephens-Camacho NA, Soñanez-Organis JG, et al. Determination of Amino Acids in Medicinal Plants from Southern Sonora, Mexico. Trop J Pharm Res 2014; 13(4):601-606 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i4.17
© 2014 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..
Purpose: To analyze the amino acid contents of some plants used in traditional medicine in Southern Sonora, Mexico by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Methods: The plant samples (Jutuki, Zizyphus obtusifolia A.Gray; Jito, Forchammeria watsonii Rose; Barchata, Lycium berlandieri Dunal; Citabaro, Vallesia glabra Link; Mangle Rojo, Rhizophora mangle L and Tatachinole, Tournefortia hartwegiana Steud) were dehydrated at room temperature and ground to a fine powder. Amino acid analysis was performed by reversed-phase HPLC. Elution was carried out with a gradient mobile phase of sodium acetate 0.1 M and methanol (9:1). Samples were derived with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and detected by fluorescence at 360(Ex)/455(Em) wavelengths.
Results: HPLC analysis resulted in a reliable detection and peak resolution. Tatachinole samples show the greater amino acid concentration (7.83 to 58.17 nM). Fifteen amino acids were detected in plant samples, with aspartic acid (Asp), glutamic acid (Glu), serine (Ser), glycine (Gly), alanine (Ala) and leucine (Leu) (43.55, 44.84, 29.60, 58.17, 43.05 and 38.73 nM, respectively) presenting the highest concentrations.
Conclusion: The amino acids - Asp, Glu, Ser, Gly, Ala and Leu - are naturally involved in osmolyte synthesis, cell metabolism, ammonia detoxification, antioxidant activity and alkaloid synthesis, suggesting that the therapeutic properties of these Southern Sonora plants may have some links to their amino acid composition.
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