Chamomile ligulate flowers in supercritical CO2-extraction

Abstract

The essential oil (EO) of chamomile ligulate flowers (CLF) was extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) at 240 bar and 40°C for five hours. An empirical equation: log c = a log W + b, for defining the dependence of total extract concentration (cTE), i.e. EO concentration (cEO) in supercritical CO2, on relative mass of CO2 (W) was selected. The equations obtained fitted the experimental data very well (r1=0.9997 and r2=0.9977). In the same way, the behavior of pharmacologically active chamomile compounds [(—)-α-bisabolol, oxides A and B, (—)-α-bisabolol, cis- and trans-en-in-dicycloethers] contained in EO of CLF after SC-CO2 extraction, was investigated. For qualitative and quantitative determination of EOs the GC/MS analysis was used. The fermentation of CLF after SC-CO2 extraction was used to increase the content of spasmolytically important chamomile flavone apigenin. The procedure of obtaining the product of CLF with the best composition of pharmacologically active compounds of chamomile has been reported. © 2000, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.