chlorophyll-a and salvin

A high degree of selectivity is required during the plant extraction process in order to obtain extracts enriched in specific compounds or to avoid the extraction of unwanted ones. Rosemary is well known for its antioxidant compounds (carnosic acid, carnosol and rosmarinic acid). The plant also contains pigments (i.e. carotenoids, chlorophylls) which may cause a colour problem during the use of the extract in cosmetic formulations, for example. Supercritical fluid extraction is considered as a selective technique for plant extraction. Due to the physico-chemical properties of supercritical fluids, related to pressure, temperature and modifier addition, it is possible to carry out sequential extraction with successive conditions to collect different fractions that are rich either in pigments or in bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was to selectively extract bioactive compounds (i.e. carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid) and pigments (carotenoids and chlorophylls) from rosemary using supercritical fluid extraction. The optimisation of the extraction method was carried out using supercritical fluid extraction online coupled with a supercritical fluid chromatography (SFE-SFC) system. Two columns of different polarities were coupled to achieve the separation of the targeted compounds every five minutes during the extraction. Four fractions were obtained: a first one rich in carotenoids obtained with pure CO2 (25°C and 20 MPa), a second rich in carnosic acid obtained with 3% polar modifier (EtOH:water 50/50 v/v), a third fraction rich in rosmarinic acid using 10% of the same modifier and a fourth fraction rich in chlorophylls with 30% of ethanol as modifier. These four samples were then analysed by UHPLC-DAD-ESI-QTOF-HRMS in order to identify other extracted compounds and to study how the selected conditions impacted their extraction.

Topics: Abietanes; Antioxidants; Carotenoids; Chlorophyll; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Chromatography, Supercritical Fluid; Cinnamates; Depsides; Kinetics; Plant Extracts; Reference Standards; Rosmarinic Acid; Rosmarinus

Selective extraction is a great concern in the field of natural products. The interest is to apply specific conditions favouring the solubility of targeted secondary metabolites and avoiding the simultaneous extraction of unwanted ones. Different ways exist to reach selective extractions with suited conditions. These conditions can be determined from experimental studies through experimental design, but a full experimental design takes time, energy, and uses plant samples. Prediction from varied solubility models can also be applied allowing a better understanding of the final selected conditions and eventually less experiments. The aim of this work was to develop and use a chromatographic model to determine optimal extraction conditions without the need for numerous extraction experiments. This model would be applied on the selective extraction of the desired antioxidant compounds in rosemary leaves (rosmarinic and carnosic acids) vs chlorophyll pigments to limit the green colour in extracts. This model was achieved with Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) and then applied to Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) and Pressurised Liquid Extraction (PLE) assays. SFC models predicted low solubility of chlorophylls for low (5%) and high (100%) percentage of solvent in carbon dioxide. Also, low solubility was predicted with acetonitrile solvent compared to methanol or ethanol. This was confirmed with different extractions performed using SFE with different percentages of solvent (5, 30, and 70%) and with the three solvents used in the SFC models (acetonitrile, methanol and ethanol). Also extractions using PLE were carried out using the same neat solvents in order to confirm the SFC models obtained for 100% of solvent. Globally, extractions validated the SFC models. Only some differences were observed between ethanol and methanol showing the complexity of plant extraction due to matrix effect. For all these extracts, the content of carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid was also monitored and selective extraction conditions of bioactive compounds could be determined.

Topics: Abietanes; Antioxidants; Carbon Dioxide; Chlorophyll; Chromatography, Supercritical Fluid; Cinnamates; Depsides; Methanol; Plant Extracts; Plant Leaves; Pressure; Regression Analysis; Rosmarinic Acid; Rosmarinus; Solubility; Solvents

A pot experiment was carried out under glasshouse conditions with common sage (Salvia officinalis L.) to investigate the interactive effects of salt stress and kinetin on growth attributes and the abundance of pigments, ions, phenolic diterpenes and α-tocopherol in leaf extracts of this species. The plants were subjected to the following four treatments: (i) control (nutrient solution), (ii) control + 10 μM kinetin, (iii) salt stress (nutrient solution + 100 mM NaCl), and (iv) salt stress + 10 μM kinetin. Kinetin was applied as a foliar fertilizer. Salt stress reduced water contents, photosynthetic activity and pigment contents of sage leaves. In addition, it increased Na(+) contents, and reduced those of Ca(2+) and K(+) in leaves. Salt stress reduced carnosic acid and 12-O-methyl carnosic acid contents in leaves, while it did not affect carnosol and α-tocopherol contents. Foliar applications of kinetin seemed to counterbalance or alleviate the stress symptoms induced by salinity, improving ion and pigment contents, while leaf phenolic diterpene (mainly carnosol) and α-tocopherol contents also increased in both control and NaCl-treated plants; still this effect was much more obvious in salt-treated plants. A similar effect was also obtained when plants were sprayed with KNO(3) or Ca(NO(3))(2), thus suggesting that kinetin effects were at least partly due to an improvement of ion homeostasis. Kinetin applications resulted in increased transcript levels of the isoprenoid and tocopherol biosynthetic genes, DXPRI and VTE2 and VTE4 in control plants, but not in NaCl-treated plants. We conclude that kinetin can alleviate the negative impact of salt on sage plants cultivated under arid environments with salinity problems.

Topics: Abietanes; alpha-Tocopherol; Antioxidants; Calcium Compounds; Chlorophyll; Diterpenes; Fertilizers; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes, Plant; Homeostasis; Kinetin; Nitrates; Photosynthesis; Plant Extracts; Plant Leaves; Plant Stomata; Plant Transpiration; Potassium Compounds; RNA, Plant; Salt-Tolerant Plants; Salvia officinalis; Sodium Chloride; Stress, Physiological; Vitamin E