Dear Cristian,

Polyphenols are a diverse class of compounds with distinct structural features so there is not a universal solvent able to efficiently extract such diverse array of compounds. However, one of the most widely used solvent is ethyl acetate though you may also find in the literature the use of MeOH (or AcN) to ease-up and speed-up LC-MS analysis.

Hope this helps,

Ana

Dear Cristian,

Polyphenols are a diverse class of compounds with distinct structural features so there is not a universal solvent able to efficiently extract such diverse array of compounds. However, one of the most widely used solvent is ethyl acetate though you may also find in the literature the use of MeOH (or AcN) to ease-up and speed-up LC-MS analysis.

Hope this helps,

Ana

thank you very much Ana Reis

Factors that should be considered when choosing a solvent or solvent system for extracting plant material include solubility of the target constituents, safety, ease of working with the solvent, potential for artifact formation, and the grade and purity of the solvent. Following the principle of ‘‘like extracts like,’’ it is often possible to tailor the solvent choice to maximize the yields of the compounds of interest, while minimizing the extraction of unwanted compounds. Specific extraction techniques that prevent decomposition of the analytes of interest or that efficiently extract the desired compounds are often reported. First you can use ethyl acetaete, methanol, ethanol acetonitrile and water and qualitatively analysis the polyphenol (Phytochemical analysis) content in each extract. Base on the results you can use and optimize best solvent mixture (eg 70% ethanol) for the highest yield. After that you can follow TLC to separate active compounds and identify the polyphenol compounds using spray reagent. Then can go for other purification techniques (PTLC, SPE, HPLC, and LC-MS).

Plant extracts were prepared by ultrasound assisted extraction. Glass tubes containing approximately 0.2 g of the samples received 10 ml of the extraction solvent (70% hydroethanolic, butanol or ethyl acetate) and were placed in an ultrasonic bath for 4 h at room temperature. Then, the supernatant was withdrew and the remaining extract was filtered on a 0.2 m membrane. Butanol and ethyl acetate were evaporated at 40 0C in a glass beaker. These extracts were later resuspended in HPLC grade methanol and filtered in a 0.2 m membrane. The initial concentrations were maintained. The extracted samples remained stored at −30 0C until the analysis. Before injection into the chromatograph, all samples were diluted to 0.01 g/ml with HPLC grade methanol.

Infusions A volume of 50 ml water at 90 0C were added to 1.5 g of dried plant. Thirty minutes later, the infusions were filtered, both by a paper filter and by a 0.2 m membrane and then stored at 40 0C until used. The samples injected were first diluted at 0.01 g/ml with HPLC grade methanol.

Ethanol 70%

As antioxidants are diverse as said by Ana Reis and there are differences in their polarities, simple thing that you could do is go through the literature related to your plant material and compare the results among different solvents that researchers have used. Then you could choose one gives highest polyphenolic content. But, certain antioxidants might not be extracted into a solvent due to differences in polarity of compounds. So, why don't you use a series of solvents ranging from the minimum polarity to the maximum polarity to extract polyphenols in a sequential extraction procedure. Example: Hexane

Polyphenols are best extracted using a binary mixture consisting of polar and non-polar solvents. It is therefore advisable to use a mixture of ethanol: water at different concentration.

Hi,

You may try aqueous acetone solution or aqueous alcoholic solution.