Abstract
Natural medicines were the only option for the prevention and treatment of human diseases for thousands of years. Natural products are important sources for drug development. The amounts of bioactive natural products in natural medicines are always fairly low. Today, it is very crucial to develop effective and selective methods for the extraction and isolation of those bioactive natural products. This paper intends to provide a comprehensive view of a variety of methods used in the extraction and isolation of natural products. This paper also presents the advantage, disadvantage and practical examples of conventional and modern techniques involved in natural products research.
Highlights
Natural medicines, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda, were formed and developed in the daily life of ancient people and in the process of their fight against diseases over thousands of years, and they have produced a positive impact on the progress of human civilization
Zhang et al compared the percolation and refluxing extraction methods to extract Undaria pinnatifida. They found that the contents of the major component, fucoxanthin (4, Fig. 2), from the percolation extraction method was higher than that from the refluxing method while there was no significant difference in extract yield between the two methods [15]
The constituents of the other three herbs in Fuzi Xiexin Tang (FXT) might promote the transformation from diester-diterpenoid alkaloids in Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata to other less toxic monoester-diterpenoid alkaloids, which might explain the mechanism of toxicity reduction and efficacy enhancement of TCM by formulation [20]
Summary
Natural medicines, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda, were formed and developed in the daily life of ancient people and in the process of their fight against diseases over thousands of years, and they have produced a positive impact on the progress of human civilization. Maceration This is a very simple extraction method with the disadvantage of long extraction time and low extraction efficiency. It could be used for the extraction of thermolabile components. Ćujić et al achieved high yields of total phenols and total anthocyanins from chokeberry fruit at an optimized condition with 50% ethanol, a solid–solvent ratio of 1:20 and particle size of 0.75 mm, which suggested that maceration was a simple and effective method for the extraction of phenolic compounds from chokeberry fruit [11].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
