Abstract
Plane tree is planted as ornamental tree in urban areas. This tree naturally sheds its bark during the spring; however, the shed bark is commonly regarded as a waste material without any significant application.On the other hand, the bark of plane tree may be an important source of industrially relevant compounds, most notably betulinic acid. In our study a Supercritical Fluid Ultra Performance Convergence Chromatography (UPC2) system coupled with Evaporative Light Scattering Detector (ELSD), along with conventional HPLC, GC-MS and NMR were successfully utilized to analyze triterpenes in the extracts from the bark of plane tree. We show that not only betulinic acid, but other important triterpenes: betulin, betulinic aldehyde and β-sitosterol are also present in the extract of the plane tree bark. Among these the main compound is betulinic acid, with up to an order of magnitude larger concentration than the other constituents. The applied extraction method has a significant role on the concentration of the different compounds in the extracts. Most notably, neat scCO2 is not suitable to extract the polar betulinic acid, however betulin and betulinic aldehyde can be extracted selectively.
Highlights
Triterpenenoids are an important class of natural plant materials with many important biological effects [1]
We show that betulinic acid, but other important triterpenes: betulin, betulinic aldehyde and β-sitosterol are present in the extract of the plane tree bark
Betulinic acid and β-sitosterol were identified by comparing their Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC), HPLC and GC-MS retention times to references and from the GC-MS spectra
Summary
Triterpenenoids are an important class of natural plant materials with many important biological effects [1] They are promising in the treatment of certain types of cancer by the inhibition of the replication of cancer cells by affecting the S phase of DNA synthesis [2] and they often show high anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antioxidant activities. Among these compounds the lupine-type pentacyclic triterpenes, like betulin (3-lup-20(29)-ene-3β,28-diol), betulinic aldehyde and betulinic acid are interesting [3] due to their anticancer [4], antiviral [5], antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, anthelmintic and antioxidant activities [6]. Betulin can be converted to betulinic acid [9], the extraction of both compounds is important for practical applications
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