Preparative separation and purification of rosmarinic acid from perilla seed meal via combined column chromatography

• Perilla seed meal is a new source for rosmarinic acid (RA).
• Macroporous and polyamide resins were conducted for RA preparation.
• We optimized the enrichment of RA using different resins.
• RA was obtained through elution on SP825 resin followed by a polyamide resin.

In this study, the preparative separation and purification of rosmarinic acid (RA) from perilla seed meal (PSM), which is a by-product of edible oil production, was achieved using combined column chromatography over macroporous and polyamide resins. To optimize the RA enrichment process, the performance and separation characteristics of nine selected macroporous resins with different chemical and physical properties were investigated. SP825 resin was the most effective: the content of RA increased from 0.27% in the original extract to 16.58% in the 50% ethanol fraction (a 61.4-fold increase). During further purification treatment on polyamide resin, 90.23% pure RA could be obtained in the 70% ethanol fraction. RA with a higher purity (>95%) could also be easily obtained using one crystallization operation. The proposed method is simple, easily operated, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly and is suitable for both large-scale RA production and waste management.