Fengjian Yang

Preparation, characterization and in vivo assessment of the bioavailability of glycyrrhizic acid microparticles by supercritical anti-solvent process.

In this study, glycyrrhizic acid (GA) microparticles were successfully prepared using a supercritical anti-solvent (SAS) process. Carbon dioxide and ethanol were used as the anti-solvent and solvent, respectively. The influences of several process parameters on the mean particle size (MPS), particle size distribution (PSD) and total yield were investigated. Processed particle sizes gradually decreased as temperature and solution flow rate increased. In addition, processed particle sizes increased from 119 to 205 nm as GA concentration increased. However, CO(2) flow rate did not significantly affect particle size. The optimized process conditions were applied, those included temperature (65 °C), pressure (250 bar), CO(2) and drug solution flow rate (15 and 8 mL min(-1)), drug concentration in ethanol (20 mg mL(-1)). Microparticles with a span of PSD ranging from 95 and 174 nm, MPS of 128 nm were obtained, and total yield was 63.5%. The X-ray diffraction patterns of glycyrrhizic acid microparticles show apparent amorphous nature. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy results show that no chemical structural changes occurred. The in vitro dissolution tests showed that the GA microparticles exhibited great enhancement of dissolution performance when compared to GA original drug. Furthermore, the in vivo studies revealed that the microparticles provided improved pharmacokinetic parameter after oral administration to rats as compared with original drug.

Application of Ionic Liquids in the Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Proanthocyanidins from Larix gmelini Bark

Ionic liquid based, microwave-assisted extraction (ILMAE) was successfully applied to the extraction of proanthocyanidins from Larix gmelini bark. In this work, in order to evaluate the performance of ionic liquids in the microwave-assisted extraction process, a series of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids with different cations and anions were evaluated for extraction yield, and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide was selected as the optimal solvent. In addition, the ILMAE procedure for the proanthocyanidins was optimized and compared with other conventional extraction techniques. Under the optimized conditions, satisfactory extraction yield of the proanthocyanidins was obtained. Relative to other methods, the proposed approach provided higher extraction yield and lower energy consumption. The Larix gmelini bark samples before and after extraction were analyzed by Thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the ILMAE method is a simple and efficient technique for sample preparation.

Development of sample preparation method for isoliquiritigenin, liquiritin, and glycyrrhizic acid analysis in licorice by ionic liquids-ultrasound based extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography detection

An ionic liquid-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction (ILUAE) method had been used for the effective extraction of isoliquiritigenin (IQ), liquiritin (LQ) and glycyrrhizic acid (GA) from licorice. The ionic liquids with different cations and anions were investigated in this work and 0.5 M 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide solution was selected as solvent. In addition, the technical parameters including soaking time, solid-liquid ratio, ultrasonic power and time were optimized. Compared with the conventional solvent extraction, the proposed approach exhibited higher efficiency, which indicated the ILUAE was an efficient, rapid and simple sample preparation technique. There was no degradation of the target analytes had been observed at the optimum conditions which was evidenced by the stability studies performed with standard of IQ, LQ and GA. The proposed method also showed high reproducibility and was environmental friendly.

Preparation of high purity biphenyl cyclooctene lignans from Schisandra extract by ion exchange resin catalytic transformation combined with macroporous resin separation

In this study, ester-bond biphenyl cyclooctene lignans were efficiently hydrolytically degraded into free biphenyl cyclooctene lignans by ion exchange resin transformation and simultaneous removal of impurities by macroporous resin. The OH-type strongly basic anion exchange resin 201×7 was the best one, and the dynamic hydrolysis efficiency was 146.7±5.0%. HPD5000 macroporous resin, which offered higher adsorption and desorption capacities and faster adsorption than other resins. The purity of free biphenyl cyclooctene lignans in the product increased from 5.14±0.24% to 79.67±0.0.67%. After dynamic catalytic transformation by 201×7 resin combined with purification of HPD5000 resin, the yield and the purity of free biphenyl cyclooctene lignans in the product were 132.1±4.7% and 80.91±3.53%, respectively.

Ionic Liquid-Based Vacuum Microwave-Assisted Extraction Followed by Macroporous Resin Enrichment for the Separation of the Three Glycosides Salicin, Hyperin and Rutin from Populus Bark

An effective ionic liquid vacuum microwave-assisted method was developed for extraction of the thermo- and oxygen-sensitive glycosides salicin, hyperin and rutin from Populus bark due to the strong solvating effects of ionic liquids on plant cell walls. In this study, [C4mim]BF4 solution was selected as the extracting solution for extraction of the target analytes. After optimization by single factor experiments and response surface methodology, the optimum condition parameters were achieved, which included 1.0 M [C4mim]BF4, 2 h soaking time, −0.08 MPa vacuum, 20 min microwave irradiation time, 400 W microwave irradiation power and 25 mL/g liquid/solid ratio. Under the optimum conditions, higher extraction yields of salicin (35.53 mg/g), hyperin (1.32 mg/g) and rutin (2.40 mg/g) were obtained. Compared with other extraction methods, the developed method provided higher yields of the three target components after a relatively shorter extraction time (20 min). No obvious degradation of the target analytes was observed under the optimum conditions in performed stability studies and the proposed method had a high reproducibility. Meanwhile, after adsorption and desorption on macroporous D101 resin, the target analytes can be effectively separated from the [C4mim]BF4 ionic liquid extraction solution and the yields of salicin, hyperin and rutin were 89%, 82% and 84%, respectively. The recovered [C4mim]BF4 ionic liquid presented a good extraction effect on the three analytes after recycling five times.

Microwave-assisted method for simultaneous extraction and hydrolysis for determination of flavonol glycosides in Ginkgo foliage using Brönsted acidic ionic-liquid [HO(3)S(CH(2))(4)mim]HSO(4) aqueous solutions.

The Brönsted acidic ionic-liquid [HO3S(CH2)4mim] HSO4, a novel dual catalyst–solvent, has been successfully applied in simultaneous microwave-assisted extraction and hydrolysis for the determination of flavonol glycosides in Ginkgo foliage. The parameters, namely the [HO3S(CH2)4mim]HSO4 concentration, microwave-irradiation power, microwave-irradiation time, and solid–liquid ratio, were optimized. The optimum conditions were: an amount of 1.5 M [HO3S(CH2)4mim]HSO4, a microwave-irradiation power of 120 W, an irradiation time of 15 min, and a solid–liquid ratio of 1:30 g/mL. Compared with traditional methods the proposed approach demonstrates higher efficiency in a shorter operating time, and is an efficient, rapid, and simple sample preparation method.

Content and Color Stability of Anthocyanins Isolated from Schisandra chinensis Fruit

In this work, a multivariate study based on Box-Behnken Design was used to evaluate the influence of three major variables affecting the performance of the extraction process of Schisandra chinensis anthocyanins. The optimum parameters were 5.5 h extraction time; 1:19 solid-liquid ratio and 260 r/min stirring rate, respectively. The extraction yield of anthocyanins was 29.06 mg/g under the optimum conditions. Moreover, many factors on the impact of heating, ultrasound, microwave treatment and ultraviolet irradiation on content and color stability of anthocyanins from Schisandra chinensis fruit were investigated. The results show that thermal degradation reaction of anthocyanins complies with the first order reaction kinetics, and the correlation coefficient is greater than 0.9950 at 40–80 °C. Ultrasound and microwave treatment has little effect on the stability of anthocyanins, and the extraction time of ultrasound and microwave should be no more than 60 min and 5 min, respectively. The anthocyanins degradation effect of UVC ultraviolet radiation is greater than UVA and UVB; after 9 h ultraviolet radiation, the anthocyanins content degradation of UVC is 23.9 ± 0.7%, and the ΔE* was changed from 62.81 to 76.52 ± 2.3. Through LC-MS analysis, the major composition of Schisandra chinensis anthocyanins was cyanidin-3-O-xylosylrutinoside.

Extraction of Dihydroquercetin from Larix gmelinii with Ultrasound-Assisted and Microwave-Assisted Alternant Digestion

An ultrasound and microwave assisted alternant extraction method (UMAE) was applied for extracting dihydroquercetin (DHQ) from Larix gmelinii wood. This investigation was conducted using 60% ethanol as solvent, 1:12 solid to liquid ratio, and 3 h soaking time. The optimum treatment time was ultrasound 40 min, microwave 20 min, respectively, and the extraction was performed once. Under the optimized conditions, satisfactory extraction yield of the target analyte was obtained. Relative to ultrasound-assisted or microwave-assisted method, the proposed approach provides higher extraction yield. The effect of DHQ of different concentrations and synthetic antioxidants on oxidative stability in soy bean oil stored for 20 days at different temperatures (25 °C and 60 °C) was compared. DHQ was more effective in restraining soy bean oil oxidation, and a dose-response relationship was observed. The antioxidant activity of DHQ was a little stronger than that of BHA and BHT. Soy bean oil supplemented with 0.08 mg/g DHQ exhibited favorable antioxidant effects and is preferable for effectively avoiding oxidation. The L. gmelinii wood samples before and after extraction were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the UMAE method is a simple and efficient technique for sample preparation.

Development of sample preparation method for eleutheroside B and E analysis in Acanthopanax senticosus by ionic liquids-ultrasound based extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography detection.

An ionic liquids-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction (ILUAE) method was successfully developed for extracting eleutheroside B and E from Radix Acanthopanax senticosus. Thirteen 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids with different cations and anions were investigated and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([C4mim]Br) solution was selected as the solvent. The conditions for ILUAE, including the ionic liquid concentration, soaking time, ultrasonic power, ultrasonic time, solid-liquid ratio and number of extraction cycles, were optimized. With the proposed method, the energy consumption time was reduced to 30 min, whereas conventional method requires about 4h. The proposed method had good recovery (97.96-103.39%) and reproducibility (RSD, n=5; 3.3% for eleutheroside B, 4.6% for eleutheroside E). ILUAE was an efficient, rapid and simple sample preparation technique that showed high reproducibility and was environmental friendly.

Evaluation of antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts and fractionation of different parts of Elsholtzia ciliata.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and free-radical scavenging activity of extract and fractions from various parts of Elsholtzia ciliata. The inflorescences, leaves, stems and roots of E. ciliata were extracted separately and two phenolic component enrichment methods: ethyl acetate-water liquid-liquid extraction and macroporous resin adsorption-desorption, were adopted in this study. The antioxidant activities of water extracts and fractions of E. ciliata were examined using different assay model systems in vitro. The fraction root E (purified by HPD300 macroporous resin) exhibited the highest total phenolics content (497.2 ± 24.9 mg GAE/g), accompanied with the highest antioxidant activity against various antioxidant systems in vitro compared to other fractions. On the basis of the results obtained, E. ciliata extracts can be used potentially as a ready accessible and valuable bioactive source of natural antioxidants.