Abstract: Objective To determine the optimal origin and harvest time of Arecae Semen by analyzing the contents of four alkaloids in Arecae Semen of different origins and harvested at different times. Methods A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was adopted to determine the contents of four alkaloids, namely guvacoline, arecoline, guvacine, and arecaidine, in Arecae Semen grown in China, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam and harvested at different times. The separation was performed on a Waters XBridge BEH Amide column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile (A) and 0.2% phosphoric acid (containing 0.2% triethylamine) (B) under gradient elution (0-20 min, 19%A; 20-25 min, 19%→23%A). The detection wavelength was set at 210 nm, the flow rate was 1 mL·min^-1, and the column temperature was maintained at 30°C. Results There were significant differences in contents of alkaloids in Arecae Semen of different origins. The contents of alkaloids in Arecae Semen from Hainan and Guangdong were much higher than those of other origins while the content of arecaidine in Vietnamese samples was relatively high. Furthermore, the contents of arecoline and guvacoline were higher in mature samples, whereas the content of arecaidine was higher in immature samples. Conclusion There are significant differences in contents of alkaloids in Arecae Semen collected from different areas and harvested at different times. This study is expected to provide data for finding better production areas and harvesting periods.

Key words: Arecae Semen, Alkaloid, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Different Origins, Different Harvest Times, Content Determination