Droplet Counter Current Chromatography (DCCC) in herbal analysis

Trends in Phytochemical Research

دوره 4، شماره 4، اسفند 2020، صفحه 201-202   

نوع مقاله: Guest editorial

نویسندگان

Lutfun Nahar^{* 1، 2}؛ Satyajit D. Sarker^{* 1}

¹Centre for Natural Products Discovery (CNPD), School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, United Kingdom

²Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR & Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic

چکیده

About half a century ago, the separation science was blessed with the introduction of a new liquid-liquid separation technique called droplet counter current chromatography (DCCC) that combined principles of counter current distribution and counter current chromatography, and employed a liquid stationary phase held in a cluster of vertical glass columns connected in series. In fact, DCCC is based on the partitioning of solutes between a constant stream of droplets of mobile phase and a column of surrounding stationary phase.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Cornus florida؛ Droplet Counter Current Chromatography (DCCC)؛ Hedera helix berries؛ High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC)

اصل مقاله

Trends in Phytochemical Research (TPR)

Guest Editorial

Droplet Counter Current Chromatography (DCCC) in herbal analysis

Lutfun Nahar^1,2* and Satyajit D. Sarker¹*

¹Centre for Natural Products Discovery (CNPD), School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, United Kingdom

²Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR & Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic

 

*Corresponding authors:

Satyajit D. Sarker

Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

E-mail address: [e-mail]

&

Lutfun Nahar

Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]

E-mail addresses: [e-mail] and [e-mail]

 

About half a century ago, the separation science was blessed with the introduction of a new liquid-liquid separation technique called droplet counter current chromatography (DCCC) that combined principles of counter current distribution and counter current chromatography, and employed a liquid stationary phase held in a cluster of vertical glass columns connected in series (Fig. 1) (Tanimura et al., 1970; Hostettmann et al., 1980; McAlpine et al., 2012). In fact, DCCC is based on the partitioning of solutes between a constant stream of droplets of mobile phase and a column of surrounding stationary phase (Hostettmann et al., 1979). Simply, as the mobile phase passes through the stationary phase, compounds more soluble in the mobile phase are eluted quicker than compounds that are more soluble in the stationary phase. The separation occurs because of partitioning of compounds between the two liquid phases. The advantage of this method relies on the fact that it does not use any solid stationary phase, and thus is free from any irreversible adsorption of compounds on the stationary phase.

 

Fig. 1. A schematic diagram of droplet counter current chromatographic (DCCC) system.

 

DCCC has been developed as an efficient separation tool for the isolation of various components from herbs and herbal products. It has appeared as an ideal method for separation of predominantly polar compounds. However, the use of DCCC in the isolation of less polar, medium polarity or even non-polar compounds (e.g., b-carotene and lutein) from herbal matrices has also been exemplified in the published literature (Hostettmann et al., 1977; Francis and Isaksen, 1989). Among the earlier applications of DCCC in the isolation of natural products from plant sources, the purification of four bioactive saponins from the crude extract of Hedera helix berries, and two saponins from the bark of Cornus florida could be two excellent examples (Hostettmann et al., 1979). DCCC was successfully applied for the purification of phenolic compounds, lignans (9a-hydroxysesamin, 9b-hydroxysesamin and pinoresinol) and flavonoids (kaempfertol and quercetin) from Cuscuta racemosa, a well-known herbal medicine that is used as an anti-inflammatory and a diuretic, for stomach and hepatic disorders, and for treating fresh wounds. In this separation, a solvent system comprising n-hexane: ethyl acetate: methanol: water (1:2:1:1) was applied (Sousa et al., 2012). Several other examples of the use of DCCC in the analysis of herbal medicine could be found only until the middle part of 2012 (Rodriguez et al., 2009; Szakiel et al., 2011; Sousa et al., 2012). The use of DCCC in recent years has almost been replaced by its modern alternative, high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) for the analysis of herbal medicine (Chen et al., 2020; Gong et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). However, research labs, who still have an active DCCC set up, can successfully utilize this low-cost and simple technique for the isolation of components in preparative scale from herbs and their commercial medicinal products; DCCC is old, but not totally obsolete.

References

Chen, C., Liu, F. Q., Zhao, J. Y., Chen, T., Li, Y. L., Zhang, D. J., 2020. Efficient separation of five flavonoids from Oxytropis falcata Bunge by high-speed counter-current chromatography and their anticancer activity. Acta Chromatogr. 32 32, 189-193.

Francis, G. W., Isaksen, M., 1989. Droplet counter current chromatography of the carotenoids of parsley Petroselinum crispum. Chromatographia27, 549-551.

Gong, Y., Huang, X. Y., Pei, D., Duan, W. D., Zhang, X., Sun, X., Di, D. L., 2020. The applicability of high-speed counter-current chromatography to the separation of natural antioxidants. J. Chromatogr. A, doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461150

Hostettmann, K., Pettei, M.J., Kubo, I., Nakanishi, K., 1977. Direct obtention of pure compounds from crude plant extracts by preparative liquid chromatography. Helv. Chim. Acta 60, 670-672.

Hostettmann, K., Hostettman-Kaldas, M., Nakanishi, K., 1979. Droplet counter-current chromatography for the preparative isolation of various glycosides. J. Chromatogr. 170, 355-361.

Hostettmann, K., 1980. Droplet counter current chromatography and its application to the preparative scale separation of natural products. Planta Med. 39, 1-18.

Khan, B.M., Liu, Y., 2018. High speed counter current chromatography: overview of solvent system and elution mode. J. Liq. Chromatogr. Rel. Technol. 41, 629-636.

McAlpine, M.B., Friesen J.B., Pauli, G.F., 2012. Separation of Natural Products by Countercurrent Chromatography, In ‘Natural Products Isolation’, 3^rd Edition, Eds: Sarker SD and Nahar, L., Springer-Verlag, New Jersey.

Rodriguez, V.F., Carmo, H.M., Oliviera, R.R., Braz-Filho, R., Mathias, L., Vieira, I.J.C., 2009. Isolation of terpenoids from Trichilia quadrijuga (Meliaceae) by droplet counter current chromatography. Chromatographia 70, 1191-1195.

Sousa, A.L., Sales, Q.S., Braz-Filho, R., de Oliveira, R.R., Lignans and flavonoids isolated from Cuscuta racemosa Mart. & Humb. (Convolvulaceae) by droplet counter current chromatography. J. Liq. Chromatogr. Rel. Technol. 35, 2294-2303.

Szakiel, A., Voutquenne-Nazabadioko, L., Henry, M., 2011, Isolation and biological activities of lyoniside from rhizomes and stems of Vaccinium myrtillus. Phytochem. Lett. 4, 138-143.

Tanimura, T., Pisano, J.J., Ito, Y., Bowman, R.L., 1970. Droplet counter current chromatography. Science 169, 54-56.

Wang, N., Pei, D., Yu, P., Huang, X., Zhao, L., Wei, J., Liu, J., Di, D., 2020. Strategy for the separation of strongly polar antioxidant compounds from Lycium barbarum L. via high-speed counter current chromatography. J. Chromat. B: Biomed. Sci., doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2020.122268

مراجع

Chen, C., Liu, F. Q., Zhao, J. Y., Chen, T., Li, Y. L., Zhang, D. J., 2020. Efficient separation of five flavonoids from Oxytropis falcata Bunge by high-speed counter-current chromatography and their anticancer activity. Acta Chromatogr. 32 32, 189-193.

Francis, G. W., Isaksen, M., 1989. Droplet counter current chromatography of the carotenoids of parsley Petroselinum crispum. Chromatographia27, 549-551.

Gong, Y., Huang, X. Y., Pei, D., Duan, W. D., Zhang, X., Sun, X., Di, D. L., 2020. The applicability of high-speed counter-current chromatography to the separation of natural antioxidants. J. Chromatogr. A, doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461150

Hostettmann, K., Pettei, M.J., Kubo, I., Nakanishi, K., 1977. Direct obtention of pure compounds from crude plant extracts by preparative liquid chromatography. Helv. Chim. Acta 60, 670-672.

Hostettmann, K., Hostettman-Kaldas, M., Nakanishi, K., 1979. Droplet counter-current chromatography for the preparative isolation of various glycosides. J. Chromatogr. 170, 355-361.

Hostettmann, K., 1980. Droplet counter current chromatography and its application to the preparative scale separation of natural products. Planta Med. 39, 1-18.

Khan, B.M., Liu, Y., 2018. High speed counter current chromatography: overview of solvent system and elution mode. J. Liq. Chromatogr. Rel. Technol. 41, 629-636.

McAlpine, M.B., Friesen J.B., Pauli, G.F., 2012. Separation of Natural Products by Countercurrent Chromatography, In ‘Natural Products Isolation’, 3^rd Edition, Eds: Sarker SD and Nahar, L., Springer-Verlag, New Jersey.

Rodriguez, V.F., Carmo, H.M., Oliviera, R.R., Braz-Filho, R., Mathias, L., Vieira, I.J.C., 2009. Isolation of terpenoids from Trichilia quadrijuga (Meliaceae) by droplet counter current chromatography. Chromatographia 70, 1191-1195.

Sousa, A.L., Sales, Q.S., Braz-Filho, R., de Oliveira, R.R., Lignans and flavonoids isolated from Cuscuta racemosa Mart. & Humb. (Convolvulaceae) by droplet counter current chromatography. J. Liq. Chromatogr. Rel. Technol. 35, 2294-2303.

Szakiel, A., Voutquenne-Nazabadioko, L., Henry, M., 2011, Isolation and biological activities of lyoniside from rhizomes and stems of Vaccinium myrtillus. Phytochem. Lett. 4, 138-143.

Tanimura, T., Pisano, J.J., Ito, Y., Bowman, R.L., 1970. Droplet counter current chromatography. Science 169, 54-56.

Wang, N., Pei, D., Yu, P., Huang, X., Zhao, L., Wei, J., Liu, J., Di, D., 2020. Strategy for the separation of strongly polar antioxidant compounds from Lycium barbarum L. via high-speed counter current chromatography. J. Chromat. B: Biomed. Sci., doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2020.122268