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Hypericum perforatum L. is a medicinal herb rich in various bioactive compounds, including procyanidins, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, xanthones, flavonoids, and naphthodianthrones. This study aimed to evaluate the selectivity of eco-friendly natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) for extracting polyphenolic compounds from H. perforatum herbs and shoots.
Twenty NADES were prepared using choline chloride and betaine as hydrogen bond acceptors, combined with different donors such as organic acids (acetic, lactic, tartaric), carbohydrates (fructose, glucose, maltose, sucrose), urea, thiourea, glycerol, and sorbitol. Their extraction efficiency was compared with 70% methanol, a conventional solvent.
Phenolic compounds were identified and quantified using HPLC-DAD-MSn. In herbs, flavonols were most abundant, followed by phenolic acids and xanthones, while in shoots, phenolic acids predominated. Organic acid-based NADES with choline chloride showed the highest extraction efficiency, followed by urea-based systems, whereas alcohol- and carbohydrate-based NADES were less effective. The choline chloride–lactic acid (1:1) mixture exhibited superior performance, yielding 76.35 mg/g and 120.4 mg/g for herb and shoot samples, respectively, comparable to 70% methanol (84.09 mg/g and 91.79 mg/g). The choline chloride–acetic acid (1:2) mixture also demonstrated high efficiency, with 74.77 mg/g in herbs and 95.47 mg/g in shoots
These results highlight the potential of natural deep eutectic solvents as sustainable and efficient alternatives for extracting bioactive compounds from H. perforatum, supporting their further application in pharmaceutical research.
Keywords: NADES, H. perforatum, phenolic compounds, choline chloride, lactic acid.
Acknowledgement: This work has been supported by Macedonian Ecological Society for the financial support of the project titled “An ecological approach for the extraction of bioactive compounds from Hypericum perforatum using deep eutectic solvents”.
