First identification and quantification of lorcaserin in an herbal slimming dietary supplement

• The illegal adulteration of a dietary supplement claimed to be 100% natural is reported.
• The adulterant is the weight-loss prescription drug lorcaserin, identified using NMR and MS.
• Quantification of lorcaserin is performed by qNMR.

The weight-loss drug lorcaserin, a FDA approved anorectic drug, was isolated from the dietary supplement “Lose quickly” claimed to be a pure natural fast slimming diet pill. After its purification by means of preparative liquid chromatography, its structure was characterized using LC-UV, NMR, MS, MS/MS, and IR spectroscopy. The amount of lorcaserin measured by qNMR was 6.6 mg/capsule.

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