Evaluation of chemo-diversity in major Piper species for three piperamides using validated RP-HPLC method

India boasts rich biodiversity of plants belongs to Piperaceae. These plants are store-house of biologically active alkaloids, generally termed as piperamides. Among piperamides, piperine, piperlongumine and piperlonguminine plays an effective role in pharmaceutical applications. The present study was aimed at developing and validating a simple reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography method to analyze chemo-diversity of these three piperamides in Pipernigrum L., Piper longum L., Piper thomsonii Hook, Piper sarmentosum Roxb. and Piper chaba Trel. & Yunck. The separation was achieved on a RP-C18 column with water (0.1% Acetic acid) and methanol as mobile phase with detection wavelength of 338 nm. The compounds were identified using authentic standards. The developed method was validated as per ICH guidelines for linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection and limit of quantification. The method was successfully applied in quantification of these piperamides in berries of five different Piper species. Among them, piperlongumine was detected only in P. longum and P. sarmentosum. Piperlonguminine and piperine was higher in P. chaba and P. nigrum. In conclusion, the method developed could be used for chemo-diversity analysis of different Piper spp to select alternate Piper species for pharmacological preparations based on the composition of its bio-active compounds.