Two-steps extraction of essential oil, polysaccharides and biphenyl cyclooctene lignans from Schisandra chinensis Baill fruits

•Two-steps extraction of volatile oil, polysaccharide and lignans were studied.•The UMAE technology for extracting lignans from S. chinensis was optimized by RSM.•Five different methods for extracting lignans were compared.•The contents of five lignans in S. chinensis were determined.

A method for two-steps extraction of essential oil, polysaccharides and lignans from Schisandra chinensis Baill had been established. Firstly, S. chinensis was extracted by hydro-distillation, the extracted solution was separated from the water-insoluble residue and precipitated by adding dehydrated alcohol after the essential oil was collected, and then the precipitate as polysaccharide was collected. Finally, second extraction was performed to obtained lignans from the water-insoluble residue with ultrasonic-microwave assisted extraction (UMAE) method. Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the UMAE parameters, the optimal conditions were as follows: microwave power 430 W, ethanol concentration 84%, particle size of sample 120-mesh sieves, ratio of water to raw material 15 and extraction time 2.1 min. Under these optimized conditions, the total extraction yields of five lignans (Schisandrol A, Schisantherin A, Deoxyschisandrin, Schisandrin B and Schisandrin C) had reached 14.22 ± 0.135 mg/g. Compared with the traditional method of direct extraction of different bioactive components in respective procedure, the extraction yields of polysaccharides and the five lignans had reached 99% and 95%, respectively. The mean recoveries of the 5 lignan compounds and polysaccharides were 97.75–101.08% and their RSD value was less than 3.88%.The approach proposed in this study not only improved the extraction yield of lignans, but also elevated the utilization of Schisandra resources.

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