Comparison of Medium Pressure Solid–Liquid Extraction and Rotation Planar Extraction of Ficus Leaves with Reference to Optimum Operating Parameters

Abstract

The effect of three operating variables on the extraction efficiency of medium pressure solid–liquid extraction (MPSLE) was studied using a factorial experimental design with three levels. The operating variables tested were medium particle size of the plant material, volume of extractant, and the equilibrium time between consecutive extractions of the same material. The possibility of scaling up the MPSLE extraction process on larger columns was also confirmed. The extraction efficiency did not markedly decrease, and a systematic increase in the extraction yields was observed on scaling up the MPSLE procedure. The results of the MPSLE experiments were compared with those obtained by the rotation planar extraction (RPE) method using a prototype ExtraChrom^® separation instrument with particle size of the plant material and volume of extractant as the operating variables. Both methods proved to be suitable for the efficient extraction of the leaves of various Ficus species. The strong points of RPE were the ease of operation of the ExtraChrom^® separation instrument and significant time savings achieved, whereas the possibility of scaling up the extraction process made MPSLE a suitable method for even larger scale preparative extractions.

Keywords:

• Extraction techniques
• Plant extraction
• Ficus sp
• RPE
• MPSLE
• MPLC

Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by grant 40167/98 from Tekes, the National Technology Agency in Finland, by the Finnish Pharmaceutical Society, and by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Commission through project with a Contract no. ICA1‐CT‐2000‐70034.