Use of supercritical technology to fractionate saponins in natural extracts

• Grant number: 12/20736-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Antonio Cabral
• Grantee: Raphaela Gabrí Bitencourt
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Extracts of the roots of Pfaffia glomerata and Pfaffia paniculata, and fruits of Melia azedarach will be obtained by Soxhlet extraction with polar solvents. Fractionation of these extracts, that are rich in saponins, will be studied by using two different methods of supercritical technology: 1) fractionation of dry extract using a fixed-bed sequential extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), scCO2/ethanol and ethanol/water, and 2) fractionation by precipitation from a hydroalcoholic solution using scCO2 as anti-solvent in a sequence of separation tanks at 50 oC where the pressure will be reduced from 300 bar to 80 bar stage by stage. The hydroalcoholic solution will be produced from the resolubilization of dry extracts in a solution ethanol:water (70:30). All samples obtained from the fractionation will be characterized as yield fractionation and presence of saponins of interest. The fractionation of extracts Pfaffia spp. will be monitored by thin layer chromatography (TLC) using as reference samples of ²-ecdysone and isolated saponins from Pfaffia spp. on CPQBA-UNICAMP. TLC analysis and gas chromatography (GC) will be used to monitor the fractionation of Melia sp..

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BITENCOURT, RAPHAELA G.; QUEIROGA, CARMEN L.; MONTANARI JUNIOR, ILIO; CABRAL, FERNANDO A.. Fractionated extraction of saponins from Brazilian ginseng by sequential process using supercritical CO2, ethanol and water. JOURNAL OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS, v. 92, p. 272-281, AUG 2014. (06/06059-3, 12/20736-9)

BITENCOURT, RAPHAELA G.; QUEIROGA, CARMEN L.; DUARTE, GUSTAVO H. B.; EBERLIN, MARCOS N.; KOHN, LUCIANA K.; ARNS, CLARICE W.; CABRAL, FERNANDO A.. Sequential extraction of bioactive compounds from Melia azedarach L. in fixed bed extractor using CO2, ethanol and water. JOURNAL OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS, v. 95, p. 355-363, NOV 2014. (12/20736-9)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

BITENCOURT, Raphaela Gabrí. Extraction and fractionation of saponins by sequential extraction in a fixed bed using supercritical carbon dioxide, ethanol and water. 2014. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos Campinas, SP.