High-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) and densitometry procedures were developed to determine the principal alkaloids in the roots of C. thalictroides. In both techniques the alkaloids content was assessed using cytisine as an internal standard. The purity and identity of the peaks of the alkaloids was examined by diode array detection and by comparison with the standards. The content of individual alkaloids was found to be in the range 0.02-1.1% w/w.