Monitoring of Chemical Markers in Extraction of Traditional Medicinal Plants (Piper nigrum, Curcuma longa) Using In Situ ReactIR.

Abstract

The fingerprinting and quantification of marker compounds from medicinal plants is a domain of the herbal industry for quality/quantity control parameters. The main objective of this study is the application of the in situ ReactIR technique for measuring the concentration of different components during the extraction process of different medicinal plants. In this study we have performed the extraction of two-marker compounds, viz. piperine from Piper nigrum and curcumin from Curcuma longa plants, using various solvents (dichloromethane and methanol). The progress of extraction was monitored using an in situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) probe instrument and an automated reactor. In this communication, using the in situ ReactIR technique we developed a method which demonstrates the relative quantification of marker analytes, optimizes extraction time and type of solvents to be used for different analytes during the extraction process. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of relative quantification and structural information of marker compounds during the process of extraction using in situ FTIR. The present study highlights the real-time monitoring, in situ quantification, and structural information of marker compounds during the process of extraction of medicinal plants using in situ FTIR.