Supercritical fluid extraction of flavonoids from Scutellariae Radix

Abstract

An optimal condition of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) for flavonoids of Scutellaria baicalensis was developed. In this study, various temperatures, pressures and modifiers were studied. The conventional extraction methods were conducted in parallel for comparison. The crude extracts were qualitatively compared by TLC and GC–MS, and the contents of flavonoids were determined by HPLC. The amounts of baicalin, baicalein and wogonin in the Scutellariae Radix obtained by supercritical fluid extraction and a conventional sonic shaking method were 137.6 mg/g, 8.6 mg/g and 2.2 mg/g, 113.5 mg/g, 5.7 mg/g and 2.3 mg/g, respectively. Application of SFE for extraction of the flavonoids from Scutellariae Radix was preferable. The optimal conditions of SFE was as follows: supercritical carbon dioxide–MeOH–water (20:2.1:0.9), 50°C and 200 bar.