Pressurized Liquid Extraction as a Promising and Economically Feasible Technique for Obtaining Beta-Ecdysone-Rich Extracts from Brazilian Ginseng (Pfaffia glomerata) Roots

Abstract

Pressurized liquid extraction was used to obtain beta-ecdysone-rich extracts from Brazilian ginseng (Pfaffia glomerata) roots. The effects of temperature, pressure, and solvent on extraction yield, beta-ecdysone content, and antioxidant activity were determined. Extraction yield increased with temperature up to 25% (dry basis) while the selectivity decreased. The use of Ethanol:Water (80:20 v/v) as solvent produced extracts with the highest antioxidant activity. Beta-ecdysone recovery was maximized using pure ethanol. In the first hour of extraction, approximately 70% of the total yield and 74% of the total beta-ecdysone mass is obtained. The cost of manufacturing significantly decrease as the extractor capacity increased.

Keywords:

• Pfaffia glomerata
• Brazilian ginseng roots
• pressurized liquid extraction
• bioactive compounds
• antioxidant activity
• beta-ecdysone
• cost of manufacturing

Additional information

Funding

I. C. N. Debien and R. Vardanega thank the CNPq (151165/2010-6 and 131260/2011-1 for the Ph.D. and MSc assistantships, respectively). Diego T. Santos and R. Vardanega thank FAPESP (2010/16485-5 and 2012/19304-7, and 2013/17260-5, for the postdoctoral fellowship and doctoral assistantship, respectively). M. A. A. Meireles thanks CNPq (301301/2010-7) for the productivity grant. The authors acknowledge the financial support from CNPq and FAPESP (2009/17234-9; 2012/10685-8).