Comparisons between conventional, ultrasound-assisted and microwave-assisted methods for extraction of anthraquinones from Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f. (Rubiaceae).

BARRERA VÁZQUEZ MARÍA FERNANDA; COMINI LAURA R; MARTINI RAQUEL E; NÚÑEZ MONTOYA SUSANA C; BOTTINI SUSANA; CABRERA JOSÉ LUIS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2014 vol. 21 p. 478 - 478

his work reports a comparative study about extraction methods used to obtain anthraquinones (AQs) from stems and leaves of Heterophyllae pustulata Hook (Rubiáceae). One of the conventional procedures used to extract these metabolites from a vegetable matrix is by successive Soxhlet extractions with solvents of increasing polarity: starting with hexane to eliminate chlorophylls and fatty components, following by benzene and finally ethyl acetate. However, this technique shows a low extraction yield of total AQs, and consumes large quantities of solvent and time. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave- assisted extraction (MAE) have been investigated as alternative methods to extract these compounds, using the same sequence of solvents. It was found that UAE increases the extraction yield of total AQs and reduces the time and amount of solvent used. Nevertheless, the combination UAE with benzene, plus MAE with ethyl acetate at a constant power of 900Wshowed the best results.