gardenia-yellow and crocin

A novel, rapid and simple analytical method was developed for the quantitative determination of crocin, crocetin and geniposide in soft drink, pastry and instant noodles. The solid samples were relatively homogenized into powders and fragments. The gardenia yellow colorants were successively extracted with methanol using ultrasound-assisted extraction. The analytes were quantitatively measured in the extracts by liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. High correlation coefficients (r(2)>0.995) of crocin, crocetin and geniposide were obtained within their linear ranges respectively (50-1000ng/mL, 50-1000ng/mL, 15-240ng/mL) by external standard method. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0.02μg/g for crocin, 0.01μg/g for crocetin and 0.002μg/g for geniposide. And the limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the ranges of 0.05-0.45μg/g for crocin, and in the ranges of 0.042-0.32μg/g for crocetin, and in the ranges of 0.02-0.15μg/g for geniposide in soft drink, pastry and instant noodles samples. The average recoveries of crocin, crocetin and geniposide ranged from 81.3% to 117.6% in soft drink, pastry and instant noodles. The intra- and inter-day precisions were respectively in the range of 1.3-4.8% and 1.7-11.8% in soft drink, pastry and instant noodle. The developed methods were successfully validated and applied to the soft drink, pastry, and instant noodles collected from the located market in Beijing from China. Crocin, crocetin and geniposide were detected in the collected samples. The average concentrations ranged from 0.84 to 4.20mg/g for crocin, and from 0.62 to 3.11mg/g for crocetin, and from 0.18 to 0.79mg/g for gardenia in various food samples. The method can provide evidences for government to determine gardenia yellow pigments and geniposide in food.

Topics: Beijing; Carbonated Beverages; Carotenoids; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Coloring Agents; Food Analysis; Gardenia; Iridoids; Plant Extracts; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Vitamin A

In present study, the performance and separation characteristics of nine macroporous resins for the enrichment and purification of gardenia yellow from Gardenia jasminoides var. radicans Makino have been evaluated. The adsorption and desorption properties of crude gardenia yellow solution on macroporous resins including HPD722, HPD100, HPD100A, HPD400, HPD400A, D101, AB-8, XAD-16, and NKA-9 have been compared. Then, HPD722 was chosen to purify gardenia yellow because of its strong adsorption and desorption abilities as well as high selectivity. Column packed with HPD722 resin was used to perform dynamic adsorption and desorption tests to optimize the separation process of gardenia yellow. The optimal conditions were as follows: The crude gardenia yellow solution with concentration of 15 mg/mL was loaded in column packed with HPD722 resin at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and the adsorbate-laden column was washed with 800 mL water, 600 mL 15% ethanol water solution respectively at the speed of 2.5 mL/min, then desorbed with 200 mL 80% ethanol water solution at the speed of 3.5 mL/min. The colority of the product obtained were up to 300. The method developed in this study provides a new approach for scale-up separation and purification of gardenia yellow from G. jasminoides var. radicans Makino.

Topics: Adsorption; Carotenoids; Chromatography, Affinity; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Ethanol; Gardenia; Iridoids; Laboratory Chemicals; Plant Extracts; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Water

A method was established for the preparation of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment by slow rotary countercurrent chromatography (SRCCC). A two-phase solvent system consisting of methyl tert-butyl ether, n-butanol, acetonitrile and water (2 : 2. 5 : 1 : 5, v/v/v/v) was used. The upper phase was used as the stationary phase, and the lower phase as the mobile phase. By SRCCC elution, 2.47 g of crocin with a purity of 96.8% was obtained from 5 g of gardenia yellow pigment at a flow rate of 5 mL/min and a rotation speed of 50 r/min. The results indicated that SRCCC is a powerful technique for the purification of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment with high preparative capacity, high safety and high efficiency in resolution, and it is possible to prepare crocin at industrial level by SRCCC.

Topics: 1-Butanol; Carotenoids; Countercurrent Distribution; Gardenia; Methyl Ethers; Plant Extracts