The addition of a saturated solution of ammonium sulphate allowed to improve the transfer of ergot alkaloids in the ethyl acetate fraction by reducing the availability of water in the aqueous phase. As a result, the recovery of the relatively more polar ergot alkaloids (ergometrine, ergometrinine, methylergometrine) was improved. Using an ethyl acetate containing extraction solvent, several apolar interfering substances (e.g. pigments, essential oils, fatty acids) were coextracted. Therefore, a defatting step with n-hexane was considered. Since ethyl acetate is miscible with hexane, the extract was first evaporated to dryness and redissolved in the solvent mixture methanol/acetonitrile/water (20/40/40, v/v/v) before adding n-hexane.