TLC of alcohol extract of tabernaemontana sananho
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Quite a variation of UV active compounds in there.

Thanks for posting!

What eluent did you use? Is the plate upside down in the pic? (The top being where you load the sample)

Also, I haven't researched this yet but did you look at what compounds have been found in this plant?

The eluent is pure ethyl acetate. The plate is not upside down no, I'll post some more pictures so you can see better.

This tree is very magical and sacred. No surprise that it has an abundance of alkaloids. There are a lot of alkaloids in the same family as iboga alkaloids. I'm in the process of researching this, to find out exactly whats in there. This extract is from the root bark, a medicine that was made by people in the jungle by soaking it in alcohol. I'm researching the branches. Extracts made from branch bark are completely full of alkaloids. This is much more sustainable than harvesting roots. Unfortunately many people harvest the roots to make medicines, but these experiments are showing that harvesting the roots is unnecessary.

Here are two more pictures of the original TLC:
https://i.postimg.cc/26Lk3D06/20220429-205543.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/HnQT4tD1/20220429-234243.jpg

One is stained with iodine which makes it easier to see.

Here are alkaloids precipitated from a vinegar extract of a small amount of branch bark:
https://i.postimg.cc/zfXwsd0p/20220701-140706.jpg

Would be interesting to compare the roots vs the branches then, alkaloids may be the same or may be different alkaloids (which might be good or not who knows).

Are you harvesting it yourself? I could likely get it tested in our lab ..

I recommend using methanol:ammonia as an eluent for most alkaloids... 97.5ml methanol and 2.5ml 25% ammonia for 100ml eluent.

Would definitely be interesting to compare alkaloid composition of the roots to the branches. And to determine the exact composition of each one. And also other closely related species. There is a related species called Tabernaemontana undulata also which grows in the same area. Ushpawasha sanango is the common name. There are more related species I'm certain, I've seen one with orange flowers (instead of the commonly seen white flowers). I can harvest a little of that, it grows by my friends house.

My friend who lives deep in the jungle harvested these batches, where he lives, this tree grows everywhere. The natives of the jungle here are experts at finding and identifying the trees. That would be amazing if I could post some samples to you. If you could get a HPLC, we can learn a lot.

Thanks for the tip about methanol:ammonia.