ABSTRACT:
The alkaloid carpaine has been isolated from the leaves of the Nigerian variety of Carica papaya L and some new derivatives of the alkaloid have been prepared. It was found that the yield of this alkaloid from the Nigerian plants is markedly lower than the values reported for American and Asian varieties. Also the plants were found to have a relatively high content of choline, and the procedure used for isolating choline is suggested as a simple method for separating choline from nitrogenous base mixtures (particularly mixtures containing other less strongly basic quaternary amines) in biological materials.