PLANT BIOCHEMISTRY-II (Bioenergetic

and Metabolism)
COURSE CODE: (BOTN4152)
Cr. Hr.: 3(2+1)

Dr. Binish Khaliq

 Topic 2: Alkaloid
Any of a class of naturally occurring organic nitrogen-containing bases.
 Plant secondary metabolites, mostly in flowering plants
 Low molecular weight
 Alkaloids (whose name originally comes from “alkali-like”) can react with
acids and then form salts, just like inorganic alkalis. In general alkaloids are
treated as amines, the same as amines in their names, have suffix -ine.
 Alkaloids in pure form are usually colorless, odorless crystalline solids, but
sometimes they can be yellowish liquids.
 They have bitter taste.
 Now more than 3000 of alkaloids are known in over different 4000 plant
species.
 They are stored in each part of the plant leaves, stem, root, and fruits of
plants but in different amounts.
 It was suggested that they are plants’ waste product, but evidence suggests
that they play some important biological function in plants.
 Well-known alkaloids include morphine, strychnine, quinine, ephedrine, and
nicotine.
 The first alkaloid discovered was morphine, a by-product of Papaver
somniferum (the opium poppy) in 1804.

Occurrence
one-quarter of higher plants are estimated to contain alkaloids, of which several
thousand different types have been identified.
In general, a given species contains only a few kinds of alkaloids, though both the
opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) and the ergot fungus (Claviceps) each contain
about 30 different types.
Certain plant families are particularly rich in alkaloids; all plants of the poppy family
(Papaveraceae) are thought to contain them, for example. The Ranunculaceae
(buttercups), Solanaceae (nightshades), and Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) are other
prominent alkaloid-containing families.
 A few alkaloids have been found in animal species, such as the New World
beaver (Castor canadensis) and poison-dart frogs (Phyllobates).
 Ergot and a few other fungi also produce them.
Chemical Structures of Alkaloids
 The chemical structures of alkaloids are extremely variable.
 An alkaloid contains at least one nitrogen atom in an amine-type
structure—i.e., one derived from ammonia by replacing hydrogen atoms
with hydrogen-carbon groups called hydrocarbons.
 This or another nitrogen atom can be active as a base in acid-base
reactions. The name alkaloid (“alkali-like”) was originally applied to the
substances because, like the inorganic alkalis, they react with acids to form
salts.
 Most alkaloids have one or more of their nitrogen atoms as part of a ring
of atoms, frequently called a cyclic system.
 Indole alkaloids are those that contain nitrogen atom in indole ring system.
 Generally based on structures, alkaloids can be divided into classes like
indoles, quinolines, isoquinolines, pyrrolidines, pyridines, pyrrolizidines,
tropanes, and terpenoids and steroids.
 Other classification system is connected with a family of plant species that
they occur.
In general, an alkaloid is made up of:

an amine group;
one or more carbon atoms; and
multiple hydrogen atoms (H).

Structure of an amine group

Well-known alkaloids