PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS (PCA) OF OPIUM ALKALOID CONTENTS FOR ORIGIN DETERMINATION

The concentrations of five major alkaloids of opium (morphine, codeine , thebaine, papaverine and noscapine) were used as descriptors for a P rincipal Component Analysis in origin determination of 27 opium sample s from India, Afghanistan, former U.S.S.R., Iran, Turkey, Greece, form er Yugoslavia, Hongkong, Japan, Mexico and Austria. For most of the sa mples the results allow on the basis of the alkaloid composition a dif ferentiation in four characteristic groups of origin: 1. Southern Euro pe (Greece, former Yugoslavia, europ. Turkey), 2. India, 3. Mid Asiati c highlands (east. Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran) and 4. East Asia (Hongko ng, Japan). The application of PCA on corresponding data of further 24 opium samples from the literature allows their classification in the same areas as described before. The averaged concentration profiles of separated sample groups of different origin are indicated. The limits of this evaluation method are shown.