Abstract

DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF AJINOMOTO AS AN ADULTERANT IN A NARCOTIC DRUG MEPHEDRONE BY THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY

Sanjay S. Prabhavale*, Nitin L. Chutke and Krishna V. Kulkarni

ABSTRACT

Mephedrone is now included in Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985 and also categorized as banned drugs. It has been found that Ajinomoto is used as an adulterant in Mephedrone. This is because physical appearance of both i.e. Mephedrone and Ajinomoto is similar. Hence Ajinomoto can not be easily distinguished from Mephedrone sample. Ajinomoto salt is also known as monosodium glutamate, commonly referred to as MSG, and it is a type of sodium salt that has been linked to various adverse reaction. Mephedrone is costly in illicit market as compared to easily available Ajinomoto salt. To compensate for the narcotic effect and to get more profit Ajinomoto is used as an adulterant. In this work a new specific spray reagent and mobile phase is developed for detection and identification of Mephedrone and Ajinomoto in one stroke.

Keywords: Mephedrone, Ajinomoto, HPTLC.