Vacuum-powered bubble-assisted solvent extraction followed by macroporous resin enrichment for isolation of podophyllotoxin from Sinopodophyllum emodi.

Abstract A vacuum-powered bubble-assisted solvent extraction (VBE) technique was used to extract podophyllotoxin from the root of Sinopodophyllum emodi . We optimized the VBE procedure and showed it had the highest efficiency of extraction compared to other conventional extraction techniques. Based upon the results of single-factor experiments, a three-factor, three-level experiment design was developed by application of a Box–Behnken design. The method was validated by stability, repeatability and recovery experiments. The optimal conditions were: solvent, 60% (v/v) ethanol; particle size of the sample, 60–80 mesh; soak time, 2 h; liquid/solid ratio, 21 L/kg; air flow, 32 mL/min; vacuum-powered bubble extraction time, 65 min. The VBE method we developed achieved efficient extraction of podophyllotoxin from S. emodi . The podophyllotoxin extracted can be enriched and separated by an HPD300 macroporous resin adsorption and desorption process. The results indicated that VBE is a convenient, rapid and efficient sample preparation technique.