The separation of a model mixture of six indole alkaloids by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) on the normal- and reversed-phase Armsorb supports, respectively, was studied. A procedure for the analysis of extracts from plants cell callus culture of Rauwolfia serpentina and hairy roots of R. serpentina and R. vomitoria in the presence of these alkaloids and its derivatives with different chromatographic systems was elaborated. It was found that the alkaloid compositions of plant cell cultures and hairy roots of R. serpentina and R. vomitoria are identical. With HPLC analysis a higher precision of alkaloid determination in solution and measurements of concentration is achieved. HPTLC analysis gives a qualitative identification of the extracts. The combination of these high-performance methods provides quantitative and qualitative analyses of indole alkaloids such as ajmaline, ajmalicine, reserpine, raucaffricine, serpentine and yohimbine. © 1995.