Plantago major has COX-2/COX-1 inhibitory activities. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Bioassay-guided supercritical fluid extraction of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibiting substances in Plantago major L.
Phytochem Anal. 2013 Feb ;24(2):176-83. Epub 2012 Sep 19. PMID: 22991332
A Stenholm
INTRODUCTION: Selective extraction of plant materials is advantageous for obtaining extracts enriched with desired constituents, thereby reducing the need for subsequent chromatography purification. Such compounds include three cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitory substances in Plantago major L. targeted in this investigation:α-linolenic acid (α-LNA) (18:3 ω-3) and the triterpenic acids ursolic acid and oleanolic acid.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the scope for tuning the selectivity of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using bioassay guidance, and Soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane as solvent as a reference technique, to optimise yields of these substances.
METHOD: Extraction parameters were varied to optimise extracts' COX-2/COX-1 inhibitory effect ratios. The crude extracts were purified initially using a solid phase extraction (SPE) clean-up procedure and the target compounds were identified with GC-MS, LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS² using GC-FID for quantification.
RESULTS: α-LNA was preferentially extracted in dynamic mode using unmodified carbon dioxide at 40°C and 172 bar, at a 0.04% (w/w) yield with a COX-2/COX-1 inhibitory effect ratio of 1.5. Ursolic and oleanolic acids were dynamically extracted at 0.25% and 0.06% yields, respectively, with no traces of (α-LNA) and a COX-2/COX-1-inhibitory effect ratio of 1.1 using 10% (v/v) ethanol as polar modifier at 75°C and 483 bar. The Soxhlet extracts had ursolic acid, oleanolic acid and αLNA yields up to 1.36%, 0.34% and 0.15%, respectively, with a COX-2/COX-1 inhibitory effect ratio of 1.2.
CONCLUSION: The target substances can be extracted selectively by bioassay guided optimisation of SFE conditions.