Proposal for fractionating Brazilian ginseng extracts: Process intensification approach

- Process intensification was applied to obtain Brazilian ginseng compounds.
- Ethanolic extracts contain high beta-ecdysone and saponins content.
- Prebiotic sugars were fractionated in the aqueous extract.

Brazilian ginseng (Pfaffia glomerata) roots contain several bioactive compounds, including beta-ecdysone with several therapeutic effects, saponins with surface activity and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) with prebiotic effects. Regarding this rich composition, a two-step intensified extraction process that uses the same solid-liquid extraction apparatus was developed to obtain and fractionate the bioactive compounds from Brazilian ginseng roots using ethanol and water as the extraction solvents. The intensified process was compared to a conventional extraction process using water as the solvent. The beta-ecdysone and saponins were mainly concentrated in the ethanolic extract obtained in step 1 of the intensified extraction process, while the FOS was isolated in the aqueous extract obtained in step 2. The effect of pressure (0.1, 5 and 10 MPa) on the extraction yield, beta-ecdysone content, saponin content, water surface tension reduction rate and FOS content was evaluated using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical method. The highest beta-ecdysone content (5.6%, d.b.) was obtained at ambient pressure (0.1 MPa), while the highest saponin content (55%, d.b.) was obtained at 5 MPa. However, the extracts that had better surface activity were also obtained at ambient pressure. The total FOS content obtained at ambient pressure was 7.9% (d.b.). The kinetic study showed that suitable process times for the first and second steps were 38 and 110 min, respectively.

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