A Clinical Method for the Analysis of Amygdalin in Human Plasma

Abstract
A rapid, simple and sensitive method for the analysis of amygdalin in human plasma has been developed. The method is based on the hydrolytic action of the enzyme 6-glucosidase on amygdalin to yield a molar equivalent amount of benzaldehyde (along with 2 moles of glucose and a mole of HCN). The benzaldehyde is extracted from plasma with chloroform and determined by GLC using a flame ionization detector. The benzaldehyde recovered, when the method was applied to human plasma spiked with amygdalin, was found to be 9.5% of the added amygdalin. Such recovery was highly reproducible (± 1.5%) for amygdalin concentrations ranging from 2 to 20 μg/ml.