2.1 Hydrolysis of phenolic acids
Acidic hydrolysis and saponification are the most common
means of releasing the acids, although they may
decompose under these conditions. Enzymatic release is
an alternative but less prevalent technique.
The acidic hydrolysis method involves treating the
plant extract or the food sample itself with inorganic
acid (e.g. HCl) at reflux or above reflux temperatures in
aqueous or alcoholic solvents (methanol being the most
common). Acid ranges from 1 to 2 N HCl and the reaction
times range from 30 min to 1 h. Aqueous HCl is reported
to have destroyed the hydroxycinnamic acids. Krygier et
al. reported that losses under acidic conditions vary with
the form of phenolic acid, ranging from 15 to 95% for ocoumaric
acid and sinapic acid, respectively [44].
Saponification entails treating the sample with a solution
of NaOH at concentrations from 1 to 4 M. Most of
the reactions are left to proceed at room temperature for
15 min up to overnight. Some investigations report that
the reactions are carried out in the dark, as well as under
an inert atmosphere such as argon or nitrogen gas [45].
Enzymatic reactions have been said to release phenolic
acids. Enzymes such as pectinases, cellulases, and amylases
are employed for the degradation of carbohydrate
linkages. The mode of action by which these acids are
released is known. Andreasen et al. discussed and compared
several different enzyme preparations for the
release of phenolic acids from the cell wall of rye grains
[46]. Yu et al. reported that a sequential acid, a-amylase,
and cellulose hydrolysis might be applicable to the
release of phenolic acids from barley [47].
2.2 Hydrolysis of flavonoids
Hydrolysis, frequently used to remove the sugar moieties
from glycosides, may be acidic, basic, or enzymatic.
Numerous papers have been cited in an earlier extensive
i 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.jss-journal.com
Figure 3. Schematic of strategies for the determination of
phenolic acids and flavonoids in biological fluids, beverages,
plants, and food. Abbreviations: SFE, supercritical fluid
extraction; MSPD, matrix solid-phase dispersion; SPME,
solid-phase microextraction; CCC, counter-current chromatography;
FL, fluorescence; FID, flame ionisation detection;
ECD, electron capture detection.
J. Sep. Sci. 2007, 30, 3268 – 3295 Other Techniques 3273
study relating to the hydrolysis conditions for flavonol
glucuronides, flavonol glucosides, and flavone glucosides,
for six food samples [48]. These data proved to be
different indicating the fact that consensus on the conditions
could barely be reached.
Hydrolysis of anthocyanins to anthocyanidins is often
indispensable as anthocyanin standards are scarce.
Hydrolysis of anthocyanin is typically done by refluxing
in MeOH – 2 N HCl (aq) [49] or 2 M HCl [50]. Alkaline
hydrolysis cleaves the acylated portions of acylated
anthocyanins.
Other researchers reported that the phenolic extract
of sunflower honey was hydrolysed in 2 N NaOH [51]
while the glycosides of flavones and flavonols were
hydrolysed by refluxing in 1 – 2 M HCl in 50% MeOH –
H2O v/v [52, 53].
For physiological fluids (bile, plasma, serum, or urine),
flavonoids may first be submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis
with b-glucuronidase and sulfatase, separately or
sequentially [54]. 13C-labeled flavonoid conjugates have
been prepared and are available to ensure that these
enzymes are active in the incubates [55].
2.3 Extraction
As noted earlier, after proper sample handling, the first
steps of a preparation procedure are milling, grinding,
and homogenisation. Extraction is the main step for the
recovery and isolation of bioactive phytochemicals from
plant materials, before analysis. It is influenced by their
chemical nature, the extraction method employed, sample
particle size, as well as the presence of interfering
substances. Additional steps may be called for if the
removal of unwanted phenolics and non-phenolic substances
such as waxes, fats, terpenes, and chlorophylls is
of interest.
Liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction are the most
commonly used procedures prior to analysis of polyphenolics
and simple phenolics in natural plants. They are
still the most widely used techniques, mainly because of
their ease of use, efficiency, and wide-ranging applicability.
Commonly used extraction solvents are alcohols
(methanol, ethanol), acetone, diethyl ether, and ethyl
acetate. However, very polar phenolic acids (benzoic, cinnamic
acids) could not be extracted completely with
pure organic solvents, and mixtures of alcohol –water or
acetone –water are recommended. Less polar solvents
(dichloromethane, chloroform, hexane, benzene) are
suitable for the extraction of nonpolar extraneous compounds
(waxes, oils, sterols, chlorophyll) from the plant
matrix. Other factors, such as pH, temperature, sampleto-solvent
volume ratio, and the number and time intervals
of individual extraction steps, also play an important
role in the extraction procedure. Extractions are,
almost invariably, repeated two to three times and
extracts are combined.
Extraction of flavonoids from biological matrices is
usually one of the fastest and less time consuming tasks
[56, 57]. In addition, due to the simple manipulation of
relatively small amount of samples to be extracted, analytical
characteristics, such as the relative standard deviation
proved to be satisfactory. To quote an example, for
the simultaneous quantification of multiple flavonoids
in rat plasma, the matrix was treated as follows [58]: The
plasma (50 lL) was acidified with 0.25 M HCl (10 lL),
mixed with ethyl acetate (1 mL), vortexed, and centrifuged.
The upper organic phase (850 lL) was evaporated
to dryness; the residue was reconstituted in CH3CN –H2O
(24:76, v/v, containing 0.01% HCOONH4) and centrifuged.
The supernatant was subsequently used for liquid chromatographic
analysis.
Soxhlet extraction is frequently used to isolate flavonoids
from solid samples. In most cases, aqueous methanol
or acetonitrile is used as solvent. In the literature,
reported extraction times vary up to 12 h using this
extraction mode. Various flavonoids were extracted from
Tilia europea, Urtica dioica, Mentha spicata, and Hypericum perforatum
after 12 h Soxhlet extraction with methanol [59].
Also, phenolic acids were quantitatively obtained by the
same extraction technique from the aerial parts of Echinacea
purpurea [60].
Flavonoids are considered favoured constituents as
chemotaxonomic markers in plants because they show
large structural diversity and are chemically stable. To
distinguish rapidly between various birch species, leaf
surface flavonoids were extracted from a single fresh leaf
by immersing the whole leaf (without crushing the tissue)
for 60 s in 1.5 mL of 95% ethanol contained in an
Eppendorf tube [61].
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) provides relatively
clean extracts, free from certain degradation compounds
which may emanate from lengthy exposure to high temperatures
and oxygen. Moreover, extracts contain no
chlorophyll and other nonpolar compounds which are
insoluble in supercritical CO2. This technique is applicable
to plant samples and can also be combined with other
sample preparation techniques. All samples are usually
dried before the SFE assay. As expected, highly polar flavonoids
are not extracted by 100% CO2. The solvating
power of a supercritical fluid is varied and extraction efficiency
is markedly improved by controlling the pressure
or by adding organic modifiers, such as methanol. In the
SFE of flavonoids from Scutellaria radix, Lin et al. observed
that, for 1 g of sample, adding 3 mL of 70% methanol in
20 mL of CO2 gave much better extraction than pure
methanol [62]. This might be because 30% of water would
further increase the polarity of the modifier, and polar
constituents would thus be extracted more easily. In
another report, SFE was compared with Soxhlet extraci
2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.jss-journal.com
3274 C. D. Stalikas J. Sep. Sci. 2007, 30, 3268 – 3295
tion, steam distillation, and maceration for the isolation
of the active components present in chamomile flower
heads [63]. The recovery of the flavonoid apigenin
obtained by supercritical CO2 after a 30-min extraction at
200 atm and 408C, was 71.4% compared to Soxhlet
extraction performed for 6 h and 125% compared to maceration
performed for three days. For some phenolic
compounds, the extraction recoveries are not sufficiently
high because the content of the organic modifier
is not sufficient for their complete isolation, especially in
the case of very polar phenolic acids.
Pressurised fluid extraction utilises conventional solvents
at controlled temperatures and pressures and has
been widely applied as a routine tool in natural product
extraction. As it uses less solvent in a shorter period of
time, can be automated, and retains the sample in an oxygen-
and light-free environment, it has the potential to be
a powerful tool in the nutraceutical industry. This kind of
extraction was proposed for the isolation of catechin and
epicatechin from tealeaves and from grape seeds [64].
A microwave-assisted extraction procedure was developed
for the simultaneous determination of isoflavonoids
in Radix Astragali [65]. The procedure showed the
highest extraction efficiency when compared to Soxhlet,
reflux, and ultrasonic extraction. A feature of conventional
extraction is that it influences the integrity of flavonoid
glycosides during prolonged extraction, thus
affecting reproducibility. According to this report, the
researchers overcame this drawback by using microwave-assisted
extraction.
An approach for automated, continuous, and rapid
extraction of flavonoids from Saussurea medusa Maxim
dried cell cultures has been developed in a newlydesigned
dynamic microwave-assisted extraction system
[66]. The main factors affecting the extraction process,
namely power of microwave irradiation, liquid/solid