Alkaloids from Culture of Ergot Claviceps purpurea Tul

Isolation of the Alkaloids from Culture of Ergot Claviceps purpurea [Fr] Tul.) 

Arthur Stoll, Arthur Brack, Albert Hofmann, 

In many cases, however, the saprophytic cultures of ergot described in the literature were tested for the presence of ergot alkaloids not only by means of color reactions, but also by biological methods (e.g. uterotonic activity). Nevertheless, when applied to complex material such as culture filtrates or extracts of mycelium, these methods of examination cannot be regarded as specific either, since other substances, e.g. histamine, also exert a more or less marked uterotonic action. 

That the methods of culturing ergot in vitro described in the literature have not so far led to the successful production of ergot alkaloids on a preparative scale is convincingly demonstrated by the fact that the ergot employed for the manufacture of the active principles 

Jaretzky Arch. Pharm. Berl. 273, 348 [1935]) reported the saprophytic culture of ergot on a suitable medium and claimed that the cornutine test (p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde) and the biological test of Broom and Clark both gave positive results. The formation of alkaloids by Claviceps purpurea in saprophytic culture was also described by de Tempe (Thesis, Amsterdam 1945), but again a red coloration with van Urk s reagent was the only basis for this claim. 

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