Efficient and scalable method in isolation of polymethoxyflavones from orange peel extract by supercritical fluid chromatography

Abstract

Polymethoxyflavones (PMFs) from citrus genus are of particular interest because of their broad spectrum of biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-atherogenic properties. Recently, the exploration into the beneficial health properties of PMFs in citrus fruits has dramatically increased. However, the supply of pure PMFs in the in vivo study is a limiting factor due to the difficulties in large-scale isolation of the interested PMFs. Therefore, the development of an efficient and a scalable separation method of PMFs is necessary and significant. In this paper, we report a newly developed method for efficient and relatively large-scale isolation of four PMFs from sweet orange ( Citrus sinensis) peel by employing supercritical chromatography (SFC): nobiletin, tangeretin, 3,5,6,7,8,3′,4′-heptamethoxyflavone and 5,6,7,4′-tetramethoxyflavone.