Preparation of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment by slow rotary countercurrent chromatography

Abstract

A method was established for the preparation of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment by slow rotary countercurrent chromatography (SRCCC). A two-phase solvent system consisting of methyl tert-butyl ether, n-butanol, acetonitrile and water (2 : 2. 5 : 1 : 5, v/v/v/v) was used. The upper phase was used as the stationary phase, and the lower phase as the mobile phase. By SRCCC elution, 2.47 g of crocin with a purity of 96.8% was obtained from 5 g of gardenia yellow pigment at a flow rate of 5 mL/min and a rotation speed of 50 r/min. The results indicated that SRCCC is a powerful technique for the purification of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment with high preparative capacity, high safety and high efficiency in resolution, and it is possible to prepare crocin at industrial level by SRCCC.