New Approach for Application of High Speed Countercurrent Chromatography Coupled with Direct Injection of the Powders of a Raw Material without any Preparation, for Isolation and Separation of Four Alkaloids with High Recoveries from Coptis chinensis Franch

Abstract

Generally, before a successful high speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) separation, crude samples were extracted from medicinal plants by aqueous ethanol or other organic solvents, and then the extracts were cleaned up by liquid–liquid extraction or column chromatography to produce the suitable samples for further purification, which were hostile for our environment and natural resource reserve because more time and solvent were consumed, and there was sample loss with a low recovery. In view of these drawbacks, a new approach of using HSCCC coupled with direct injection of the powders of the raw material without any preparation method, was successfully developed to separate and purify jatrorrhizine, coptisine, palmatine, and berberine from Coptis chinensis Franch, with high recoveries of over 92% determined by high performance liquid chromatography and standards compared with approximately 70% recoveries in common HSCCC purification. Our study showed a new approach in the HSCCC research field for combining the extraction and separation process together in the HSCCC column only, to eliminate sample loss and which decreases solvent and length of time.

Keywords:

• Countercurrent chromatography
• Preparative chromatography
• Traditional Chinese medicine

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Zhenghua Wang and Chungui Wu (Shanghai Tauto Biotech Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China) for their excellent assistance.