Milk thistle (<i>Silybum marianum</i>) is an annual or biennial plant native to the Mediterranean that now grows wild throughout Europe, America, and Australia. Silymarin is a mixture of at least 7 components (taxifolin, silychristin, silydianin, silibinin A/B and isosilybinin A/B). It has been used to prevent and treat variety of liver diseases and to protect the liver against toxicity. Extraction of silymarin from the milk thistle fruits is usually accomplished by defatting the fruits in a Soxhlet apparatus with hexane, followed by extraction with organic solvents which required large volumes of solvents and longer extraction times.<br/>In this study, we evaluated different extraction techniques that are more environmentally friendly for their extraction efficiency and their effects on the composition of the silymarin components. Extraction techniques used were, accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), microwave extraction (ME) and ultrasonication extraction (USE) using methanol as a solvent. Quantitative analysis of each type of extraction was carried out using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). ASE gave the highest yield followed by USE and ME. LCMS and HPTLC results for the different extraction techniques will be presented.

Comparative analysis of silymarin using different extraction techniques

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.