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In recent years, there has been a significant expansion of the nomenclature of medicinal preparations of plant origin. To a considerable extent, this is due to the creation of complex pharmaceuticals based on several medicinal plants or, sometimes, on a rather large number of such plants. Besides the popular herbal mixtures and solid dosed medicinal forms prepared from raw plant materials, there is growing interest in liquid preparations of complex composition (extracts, elixirs, etc.). Recently, a new complex preparation for the treatment of disorders of the oral mucous membrane and periodontium was created at the State Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (Moscow). This liquid preparation represents a mixed aqueous-ethanol extract from seven official medicinal plants, including peppermint leaves, macleya herbs, garden sage herbs, common yarrow herbs, camomile flowers, purple coneflower herbs, and pot marigold flowers. The extract possesses antiinflammatory, wound-healing, regenerating, and antimicrobial properties. This curative effect is due to various groups of biological substances present in the composition. Garden sage, camomile, peppermint, and common yarrow contain essential oil; macleya contributes alkaloids of the chelidonine group; purple coneflower yields a complex of phenolcarboxylic acids; and pot marigold gives flavonoids, which are also present in all other plants except for macleya. The final preparation also contains carbohydrates, carotenoids, trace elements, organic and fatty acids, steroids, saponins, and other components [1 – 9]. Obviously, standardization of such a muilticomponent preparation poses a relatively complicated problem, which requires an individual approach. The general quality of the preparation is evaluated according to the State Standard OST No. 91500.05.001-00 [10], stipulating tests for the identity, quantitative content of the total of biologically active substances, dry residue (moisture content), alcohol concentration, heavy metals content, and microbiological purity. Since the preparation includes components obtained from various plants containing specific combinations of biologically active substances, the test for identity involves general qualitative group reactions for terpenoids, alkaloids, and phenolic compounds (flavonoids, phenolcarboxylic acids, etc.) and a TLC check. Flavonoids are detected using the cyanidin reaction. The presence of tannins is checked by a reaction with iron hydroxychloride. The total terpenoid content is detected by the reaction with vanillin solution in concentrated sulfuric acid and by TLC [11]. Prior to this, the terpenoids are isolated by double extraction with an organic solvent and the solvent is distilled off in vacuum at a temperature not exceeding 40°C. A qualitative analysis for terpenoids and alkaloids is performed by TLC.

The pKa values of a number of alkaloids in water or in aqueous ethanol have been measured by the potentiometric titration method: nuphleine — 4.59, 6.98; brevicolline — 5.17, 8.02; chelidonine — 6.40; sanguinarine — 7.32; chelerythrine — 7.53; stepharine — 8.48; d-pseudoephedrine — 9.49. For nuphleine and brevicolline, each of which has two nitrogen atoms capable of protonation, assignments have been made of pKa values to the corresponding atoms on the basis of the results of UV spectroscopy.

For analyzing the herb plume poppy a spectrophotometric method has been developed which is distinguished by a high productivity thanks to the absence of a stage of chromatographically separating the combined alkaloids. The error of a single determination is ±5.07%.