Abstract
The biomass Solanum mauritianum (S. mauritianum) is an invasive weed specie; however, it is a source of medicinally important metabolites, as reported in literature, such as solasonine and solamargine. The study was directed at the optimization of microwave and aqueous two-phase-based extraction techniques which involved microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), aqueous two-phase extraction followed by microwave-assisted extraction (ATPE + MAE), and the “one-pot” microwave-assisted aqueous two-phase extraction (MA-ATPE) for extraction of solasonine and solamargine from leaves of S. mauritianum which was evaluated. The microwave-assisted extraction of solasonine and solamargine yielded optimums at 5.00 min, microwave power of 270 W, and solid/liquid of 0.1 g L−1 at an ethanol concentration of 60%. Application of a two-stage extraction (MAE + ATPE) in CaO-dried alcohol resulted in decreased amounts of solasonine and solamargine extracted. The best yields of solasonine and solamargine were achieved in the MA-ATPE method. Extraction of solamargine and solasonine using Na2CO3 in CaO-dried ethanol during MA-ATPE was approximately threefold and twofold greater than that of MAE + ATPE, respectively. Furthermore, extraction of solamargine and solasonine using NaCl in CaO-dried ethanol during MA-ATPE was approximately twofold greater than that of MAE + ATPE. The synergy of microwaves and salting-out in the “one-pot” MA-ATPE technique was shown to be a contributing factor for enhanced extraction of solamargine and solasonine from leaves of S. mauritianum. Application of this time- and energy-efficient extraction method could potentially be expanded for enrichment of medicinally important compounds from biomass of other medicinal plants.
Highlights
Plant reaction to damage is an inherent character and occurs through exhibition of defense mechanisms against herbivores and piercing-sucking insects such as whiteflies and bacterial pathogens [1,2,3]
This work aimed to explore conventional extraction methods such as Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), aqueous twophase extraction followed by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE + Aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE)) and microwave-assisted aqueous two-phase extraction (MA-ATPE) for enrichment of glycoalkaloids from Solanum mauritianum
Solamargine contains two rhamnose monosaccharides and glucose while solasonine is composed of glucose, rhamnose, and galactose, which account for the 16 mass unit difference between the two compounds (Fig. 1a and b)
Summary
Plant reaction to damage is an inherent character and occurs through exhibition of defense mechanisms against herbivores and piercing-sucking insects such as whiteflies and bacterial pathogens [1,2,3]. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) is a simple environmentally friendly and economical technique for the extraction of biologically active compounds from different plant materials [12, 13]. The advantage of this technique includes shorter extraction time, lesser solvent requirement, improved purity of the extract, low cost, and better extraction yield in comparison to Soxhlet extraction. This extraction method is a quick and highly effective technique for obtaining extracts under mild conditions; it has been considered a potential alternative to traditional methods [14,15,16]. Researchers have turned their attention to an improved version of ATPE, salting-out assisted liquid–liquid extraction (SALLE) technique, which facilitates extraction of metabolites from complex matrices [19,20,21]
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