Qualitative and quantitative determination of yohimbine in authentic yohimbe bark and in commercial aphrodisiacs by HPLC-UV-API/ MS methods

The development and validation of a rapid qualitative and quantitative method based on an HPLC-UV-MS technique with atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation and electrospray ionisation for the analysis of yohimbine in a number of commercial aphrodisiac products is reported. HPLC with multiple-stage mass spectrometry experiments allowed the identification of the target compound and increased the selectivity of complex analyses such as those involved with multi-botanical preparations. The precision and the robustness of the method were improved by the use of two internal standards: codeine for UV detection and deuterium-labelled yohimbine for MS detection. Twenty commercial aphrodisiac preparations were analysed and the amount of yohimbine measured and expressed as the maximal dose per day suggested on product labels ranged from 1.32 to 23.16 mg.