Double bypasses soxhlet apparatus for extraction of piperine from Piper nigrum

A simple modified soxhlet extractor, double bypasses sidearm soxhlet apparatus (DBSA) was designed and employed for extraction of piperine from Piper nigrum. Total extraction time, time taken for a cycle and yield observed in the double bypass sidearm soxhlet apparatus was compared with the soxhlet apparatus. Extraction time, time taken for an extraction cycle and yield of crude piperine obtained in DBSA were 12 ± 1 h, 8 ± 1.00 min, and 3.90 ± 0.10 g whereas the results obtained in the soxhlet method were 22 ± 1 h, 16 ± 1.00 min, and 3.80 ± 0.18 g, respectively. The results obtained in DBSA have demonstrated that this approach is as efficient as the soxhlet apparatus with drastic reduction of extraction time. On the basis of this result, we propose DBSA as the most efficient method and an alternative to the soxhlet extractor.