Extraction and Determination of Polar Bioactive Compounds from Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Using Supercritical Techniques

Abstract

The aim of this research was to select parameters for supercritical extraction with CO2 of Medicago sativa L., considered as functional food, in quarter-technical plant, providing the highest concentration of bioactive polar constituents and simultaneously maintaining the highest efficiency of the process. For the purpose of optimization, mathematical statistics was used. Qualitative analysis of products was performed with supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). The SFC analysis revealed a proper separation of flavonoids and phenolics acids for dedicated TFC and TPC optimal parameters. The obtained results have proved that it is a possibility to extract polar compounds with non-polar solvent under higher values of pressure and temperature and to enrich product with desired group of bioactive compounds with proper optimization. The proposed extraction technique allows to obtain on an industrial scale, using an environmentally friendly solvent, a preparation rich in biologically active nutrients that can be implemented in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industries.

Comparative Studies of Selected Criteria Enabling Optimization of the Extraction of Polar Biologically Active Compounds from Alfalfa with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

“…SFE is a popular separation technique of bioactive compounds from plant material applied successfully in industry, e.g., for hop or hemp extraction [ 1 , 2 ]. In supercritical extraction, the solvent properties and the main extraction parameters, such as temperature (T, K), pressure (P, MPa), and solvent flow rate (F, kg h −1 ), have a crucial impact on the composition and features of the obtained product.…”

“…It has been proven that at lower values of temperature (T) and pressure (P) (but above the CO 2 critical point), non-polar bioactive compounds are effectively extracted. As it was proven in earlier work, under higher values of P and T, polar bioactive components can be sufficiently separated from plant materials due to the small quadrupole moments of CO 2 molecules and the diffusion of the constituents from the plant matrix [ 1 ]. The composition of the final product can vary depending on the values of the process parameters, which have a direct impact on the further application of obtained extract [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ].…”

“…In this study, the impact of two approaches for the optimization of similar outputs determined by simple spectrophotometric and advanced chromatographic analyses was studied. An optimization procedure based on general criteria of supercritical fluid extraction with pure carbon dioxide at a quarter-technical plant was carried out previously and extensively described in our previous work [ 1 ]. Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa) was used as a feedstock due to its extensive spreading in Poland and accessibility in a proper amount for extraction at a scale larger than laboratory [ 1 ].…”

Microwave Assisted Extraction of Bioactive Carbohydrates from Different Morphological Parts of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

“…Alfalfa extracts have been proven to be an efficient dietary tool in the treatment of hypertension, metabolic disorders related to glucose, and lipid metabolism, arthritis, and kidney problems [2] and to be helpful in lowering cholesterol levels in both animals and humans [4,5]. These activities have been attributed to its content in several bioactive compounds such as sterols, triterpenes, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, and saponins [2,[5][6][7][8]. While several studies have been carried out regarding these compounds, scarce attention has been paid to its bioactive carbohydrate composition [1,9].…”

Supercritical Fluid Extraction Enhances Discovery of Secondary Metabolites from Myxobacteria

“…3 Furthermore it profits from the unique intrinsic properties of a supercritical fluid, showing liquid-like solvation because of its liquid-like density, combined with increased mass transfer between the extracted material and the supercritical fluid because of its gas-like viscosity and diffusivity. 4 These unique properties allowed extraction and isolation of a diverse set of natural products from plants, such as flavonoids and phenolic acids from Medicago sativa L. (Alfalfa) 5 or piperine from Piper nigrum L.. 6 In microbial natural product research however, the application of SFE appears limited to the isolation of natural products from cyanobacteria. The structural diversity among cyanobacterial metabolites isolated with SFE is high, comprising the epoxide containing polycyclic natural product chaetoglobosin, the xanthone sydowinin B, the nitrophenyl containing mycolutein and luteoreticuls, the glycosylated macrolactam elaiophylin and the polyunsaturated fatty acid γ-linoleic acid.…”