Optimization of Yield for Extraction of an Essential Oil from Cinnamon Using Microwave-Assisted Extraction

Abstract

Sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia L.) is synonymous both with Cassia tora L. and Cassia obtusifolia L.). It is usually viewed as a noxious weed in crop fields in southeastern United States. This plant, however, has a long history of use in traditional medicine in oriental countries. It is a prolific seed producer the constituents of which include: polysaccharides, proteins, highly colored low fat content and many phenolic compounds. The phenolic components are usually described as toxic, although recent literature shows many of these to exhibit potent therapeutic properties for human health. Pursuant to this as part of our continuing interest in the plant, we have expanded our study of the seed by extracting a mixture of anthraquinone and naphthopyrone glycosides from S. obtusifolia seed obtained from North Carolina. A survey of the composition of the extract was affected using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) with a variety of collision induced dissociation (CID) experiments. The major constituents of the mixture produced HPLC-ESI-MSn data consistent with: chrysophanic acid tetraglycoside; rubrufusarin and toralactone di-, tri- and tetraglycosides; torachrysone ester, di-, tri-, tetra- and pentaglycosides and cassialactone tetraglycoside. The naphthopyrone glycosides and related phenolic compounds in the seed are value-added medicinal co-products to the galactomannan polysaccharides of S. obtusifolia. FT-IR spectra of the mixture corroborate the chromatographic information obtained of the mixture of anthraquinone glycosides.