Cost-efficient and process-efficient separation of geniposide from Gardenia jasminoides Ellis by high-performance counter-current chromatography

Gardenia jasminoides Ellis has been used for traditional Chinese medicine to treat all forms of febrile diseases. A cost-efficient and process-efficient separation of the bioactive molecule geniposide from G. jasminoides Ellis by high-performance counter-current chromatography (HPCCC) has been developed. Separation by preparative HPCCC was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate–butanol–water (0.4:1.6:2, v/v). The separation yielded 445 mg of geniposide with a purity of 95.2% from 4.0 g of crude extract. A factor of cost efficiency was developed and used for an economic evaluation of the separation process. The cost efficiency for geniposide was 0.070 g h−1 $−1. The separation process by HPCCC was demonstrated to be more economical and efficient than those methods by HSCCC and LC.

► A preparative method by CCC was established to yield 445 mg of geniposide within 50 min.
► The cost efficiency value was 1.75 times higher than other published HSCCC methods.
► The cost efficiency value was 14 times higher than the published preparative LC method.
► The separation process was proved to be cost-efficient and process-efficient.