New Trends in Sample Preparation for Analysis of Plant-Derived Medicines

Abstract

Natural products have served as major sources of drugs for centuries, and about half of the pharmaceuticals in use today are derived from natural products. Therefore, screening and analysis of the bioactive components in medicinal plants are now indispensable for the discovery of new drugs and quality control of plant pharmaceuticals. Sample preparation is essential for isolating desired components from complex matrices and greatly influences the reliable and accurate analysis of plant-derived medicines. This review will summarize current trends in sample preparation techniques for the analysis of plant-derived medicines, focusing primarily on newly developed techniques, such as ultrasonic extraction (USE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), pressurized-liquid extraction (PLE), supercritical- fluid extraction (SFE), solid-phase extraction (SPE), solid-phase microextraction (SPME), and liquid-phase microextraction (LPME). The general characteristics and applications of each method in the analysis of plant-derived medicines are described. Keywords: Medicinal plants, Traditional Chinese medicines, Microwave-assisted extraction, Pressurized-liquid extraction, Supercritical-fluid extraction, Solid-phase extraction, Solid-phase microextraction, Liquid-phase microextraction, bioactive components, ultrasonic extraction (USE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), pressurized-liquid extraction (PLE), supercritical-fluid extraction (SFE), solid-phase extraction (SPE), solid-phase microextraction (SPME), liquid-phase microextraction (LPME), High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), finger print analysis (FA), ultraviolet (UV) spectrometry, fluorescence (FL) spectrometry, evaporative light scattering (ELS) spectrometry, mass spectrometry (MS), tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Optimal solid, –, liquid extraction (SLE), freeze-dried, Soxhlet extraction, liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), microwave distillation (MD), pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE), matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), plant-derived medicines, antioxidant properties, superheated water extraction (SWE), CO2-based fluids