High-performance countercurrent chromatography (HPCCC) coupled with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed to isolate dihydrophaseic acid 3′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (DHPAG) from the extract of Nelumbo nucifera seeds. Enriched DHPAG sample (2.3 g) was separated by HPCCC using ethyl acetate/n-butanol/water system (6:4:10, v/v/v, normal-phase mode, flow rate: 4.0 mL/min) to give 23.1 mg of DHPAG with purity of 88.7%. Further preparative RP-HPLC experiment gave pure DHPAG (16.3 mg, purity > 98%). The current study demonstrates that utilization of CCC method maximizes the isolation efficiency compared with that of solid-based conventional column chromatography.
Chromatography ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Countercurrent Distribution ; Methods ; Nelumbo

In order to improve the stationary phase retention of polar solvent systems and aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs), we designed a multiple spiral disk assembly for type-J high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). The stationary phase retention was studied under different elution modes by using two solvent systems that contained 1-butanol-acetic acid-water (4:1:5, V/V/V) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 1000-K2HPO4-water (12.5:12.5:75, W/W/W). The best retention was obtained in L-I-T, U-O-H, L-I-H three modes by pumping lower mobile phase from inner terminal (I) to outer terminal (O), and upper mobile phase from outer terminal (O) to inner terminal (I) at a relatively high flow rate. Meanwhile, the relationship between retention percentage of the stationary phase (Sf) and various parameters such as flow-rate (F), rotation speed (w) and column temperature (T) was also studied. Sf increased with the increase of w and decreased with the increase of F. Regression analysis showed a linear relationship between Sf and F1/2/w. The influence of T on Sf was not obvious between 20 degrees C and 40 degrees C, lower temperature than 20 degrees C was not suitable for viscous ATPSs. Acceptable resolutions were achieved when it was applied for the separation of dipeptides including Leu-Tyr and Val-Tyr by using 1-butanol-acetic acid-water (4:1:5, V/V/V) solvent system. The proteins including cytochrome C and myoglobin, lysozyme and myoglobin, and fresh chicken egg-white proteins were well separated by 12.5% PEG1000-12.5% K2HPO4-75% water (pH 9.0) and 16% PEG 1000-12.5% K2HPO4-71.5% water (pH 8.0) system.
Countercurrent Distribution ; instrumentation ; methods ; Peptides ; isolation & purification ; Proteins ; isolation & purification

Cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) and cyanidin-3-rutinoside (C3R) were isolated by high-performance countercurrent chromatography (HPCCC) using a two-phase solvent system composed of tert-butyl methyl ether/n-butanol/acetonitrile/water/trifluoroacetic acid (1 : 3 : 1 : 5 : 0.01, v/v) to give pure C3G (34.1 mg) and C3R (14.3 mg) from 1.5 g crude mulberry fruit extract. Using the pure C3G and C3R, a reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated to determine the C3G and C3R contents in mulberry fruit. C3G and C3R were separated simultaneously using an Eclipse XDB-C18 column (4.6 x 250 mm I.D., 5 microm) coupled with a photodiode array detector (PDA). The gradient elution of the mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile (0.5% formic acid) and water (0.5% formic acid) was applied (1.0 mL/min), and the detection wavelength was 520 nm. The calibration curves of C3G and C3R showed good linearity (both with r2 = 0.9996) in the concentration range 15.625 - 500 microg/mL, and the relative standard deviations (RSD%) of intra- and interday variability were in the ranges 2.1 - 8.2% and 4.1 - 17.1%, respectively. The accuracies were ranged 96.5 - 102.6% for C3G and C3R, respectively. The developed HPLC method was used to determine the contents of C3G and C3R in newly harvested mulberry from eight different provinces of Korea.
Calibration ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Liquid* ; Countercurrent Distribution* ; Fruit* ; Korea ; Morus* ; Water

High-speed counte-recurrent chromatography (HSCCC) is a continuous liquid-liquid partition chromatography without solid matrix, which has the significant features of high resolution and high recovery. The separation of bio-macromolecule in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPs) with HSCCC is still under research, and the establishment of high-speed counter-current aqueous two-phase chromatography (HSCCC-ATP) relies on the improvement of equipment structure and optimization of operation parameters. By using a multi-column high-speed counter-current chromatograph, the separation of protein mixture and the purification of ovalbumin from hen egg white were studied. The effects of pH and PEG concentration on the partition coefficients of proteins were tested in PEG1000-phosphate ATPs, and distinct differences among partition coefficients of proteins were found at pH 9.2 and 15.0% (W/W) PEG concentration in said system. The separation of protein mixture, consisting of cytochrome C, lysozyme and myoglobin was successfully performed in 15.0% (W/W) PEG1000-17.0% (W/W) potassium phosphate ATPs at pH 9.2 with high-speed counter-current chromatograph at rotation speed of 850r/min and flow rate of 0.8mL/min, using upper phase as stationary phase. pH and PEG concentration also had distinct effects on the partition coefficients of the major protein components in hen egg white, including ovaltransferrin, ovalbumin and lysozyme. The optimal pH value and PEG concentration for the purification of ovalbumin by HSCCC-ATP were found to be 9.2 and 16.0% (W/W) respectively. Ovalbumin was successfully purified to homogeneity from the hen egg white sample in 16.0% (W/W) PEG1000-17.0% (W/W) potassium phosphate ATPs at pH 9.2 with high-speed counter-current chromatograph at rotation speed of 850r/min and flow rate of 1.8mL/min, using upper phase as stationary phase. The purification recovery of ovalbumin was around 95%.
Animals ; Chickens ; Countercurrent Distribution ; methods ; Egg White ; chemistry ; Ovalbumin ; isolation & purification

Alkaloids, widespread in plants, have a series of pharmacological activities and have been widely used to treat various diseases. Because alkaloids are usually presented in multicomponent mixtures and are deeply low in content, they are very difficult to extract and separate by traditional methods. High-speed counter current chromatography(HSCCC) is a kind of liquid-liquid chromatography without solid support phase, which has the advantages of large injection volume, low cost, and no irreversible adsorption. Compared with the traditional methods of extraction and separation of alkaloids, HSCCC can ensure the separation of many different alkaloids at one time, with a high recovery and large amount. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of HSCCC compared with traditional separation methods were discussed and the solvent system and elution mode of HSCCC used to separate alkaloids in recent years were summarized by referring to the relevant literature to provide some references for the separation of alkaloids by HSCCC.
Biological Products ; Countercurrent Distribution/methods* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Alkaloids/analysis* ; Solvents/chemistry*

Anthocyanins are water soluble plant pigments which are responsible for the blue, red, pink, violet colors in several plant organs such as flowers, fruits, leaves and roots. In recent years, anthocyanin-rich foods have been favored as dietary supplements and health care products due to diverse biological activities of anthocyanins including antioxidant, anti-allergic, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, anti-cancer and preventing cardiovascular disease. High-performance countercurrent chromatography (HPCCC) coupled with reversed-phase medium pressure liquid chromatography (RP MPLC) method was applied for the rapid and efficient isolation of cyanidin 3-glucoside (C3G) and peonidin 3-glucoside (P3G) from black rice (Oryza sativa L., Poaceae). The crude black rice extract (500 mg) was subjected to HPCCC using two-phase solvent system composed of tert-butyl methyl ether/n-butanol/acetonitrile/0.01% trifluoroacetic acid (TBME/B/A/0.01% TFA, 1 : 3 : 1 : 5, v/v, flow rate - 4.5 mL/min, reversed phase mode) to give enriched anthocyanin extract (37.4 mg), and enriched anthocyanin extract was sequentially chromatographed on RP-MPLC to yield C3G (16.5 mg) and P3G (8.7 mg). The recovery rate and purity of isolated C3G were 76.0% and 98.2%, respectively, and those of P3G were 58.3% and 96.3%, respectively. The present study indicates that HPCCC coupled with RP-MPLC method is more rapid and efficient than multi-step conventional column chromatography for the separation of anthocyanins.
Anthocyanins ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Chromatography* ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Countercurrent Distribution* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dietary Supplements ; Flowers ; Fruit ; Plants ; Trifluoroacetic Acid ; Viola

OBJECTIVETo isolate and purify gallic acid and brevifolincarboxylic acid simultaneously by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) from a crude extract of Polygonum capitatum.

METHODThe biphasic solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-0.44% acetic acid (3:1:5) was used at a flow rate of 2.0 mL x min(-1), while the aqueous phase was selected as the mobile phase and the apparatus was rotated at 860 r x min(-1). The effluent was detected at 272 nm.

RESULT51.5 mg of gallic acid and 5.9 mg of brevifolincarboxylic acid were separated from 1.07 g of the crude extract with the purities of 99.7% and 97.5%, respectively, while brevifolincarboxylic acid was obtained firstly from the genus Polygonum. The structures of the compounds were identified by ultraviolet spectrometry (UV), infra-red spectrometry (IR), liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), time-of-flight mass spectrometry( TOF-MS), 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and 13C-NMR.

CONCLUSIONThis method is feasible and rapid for isolation and purification of gallice acid and brevifolincarboxylil acid.

Carboxylic Acids ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Countercurrent Distribution ; methods ; Gallic Acid ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Polygonum ; chemistry

AIMTo search for more bioactive compounds from the roots of Aconitum coreanum (Lèvl.) Rapaics.

METHODSHigh speed countercurrent chromatography was successfully applied to the separation of alkaloids from Aconitum coreanum. The structures were elucidated by their physicochemical properties and spectroscopic analysis.

RESULTSTwo-phase solvent system composed of CHCl3-CH3OH-0.2 mol x L(-1) HCl (10:3:3, volume ratio) was used in this experiment, eight alkaloids were obtained from the roots of Aconitum coreanum, which were identified as: 2alpha-propionyl-11alpha,13beta-diacetyl-14-hydroxyhetisine (I), Guanfu base P (II), Guanfu base G (III), Guanfu base F (IV), Guanfu base Z (V), Guanfu base O (VI), Guanfu base A (VII), Guanfu base B (VIII).

CONCLUSIONCompound I is a new alkaloid, named Guanfu base R.

Aconitum ; chemistry ; Countercurrent Distribution ; Heterocyclic Compounds, 4 or More Rings ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Conformation ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

In an attempt to apply high-speed counter-current chromatography HSCCC for TCM fingerprints, the separation and purification of the Chinese medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge of different localities was realized using the technique. The equipments used include a HSCCC (TBE-300) of Shenzhen Tauto Biotech containing three connected preparative coils (diameter of tube = 2.6mm, total volume = 300mL) and a 20mL sample loop and a HPLC from Shimadzu of Japan with a Ultrasphere C18 column (150 x 4.6mm ID, 5microm) and a 20microL sample loop. Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge samples from 3 locations were separated by HSCCC in a Step-wise elution program with solvent systems A (hexane:ethanol: water = 10:5.5:4.5) and B (hexane:ethanol: water = 10:7:3) at a speed of 900 r/min and a flow-rate of 2mL/min. All the 12 peak fractions were eluted within 13 hours. The contents of each component varied greatly in different samples, which confirmed previous observation that the locations and climates have a great impact on the TCM quality and also indicated a quality control system is necessary to safeguard the quality of the herb. The retention times of the 12 peak fractions from crude extracts of the samples were collected by HPLC and the absorption spectrums of the corresponding peaks were identified. The 12 components of the three crude samples were readily distinguishable and can be used as fingerprints of S. miltiorrhiza Bunge. The relative standard deviation of the HSCCC retention times was less than 3%, which satisfies the requirement of the national standard reference index. The components 7, 8 and 11 from the standards were identified to be crypototanshinone, tanshinone I and tanshinone II A respectively. This study demonstrates that if it is possible to apply HSCCC for TCM fingerprinting, especially with samples of high viscosity and highly absorptive components. The precision and the run time of fingerprinting can be further improved if larger volume and a temperature control system is used. With these and other improvements, HSCCC is expected to play an important role in TCM development.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Countercurrent Distribution ; methods ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; Molecular Structure ; Phenanthrenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Reference Standards ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

Multi-stage countercurrent extraction technology, integrating solvent extraction, repercolation with dynamic and countercurrent extraction, is a novel extraction technology for the traditional Chinese medicine. This solvent-saving, energy-saving and high-extraction-efficiency technology can at the most drive active compounds to diffuse from the herbal materials into the solvent stage by stage by creating concentration differences between the herbal materials and the solvents. This paper reviewed the basic principle, the influence factors and the research progress and trends of the equipments and the application of the multi-stage countercurrent extraction.
Countercurrent Distribution ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; Particle Size ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Solvents ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; instrumentation ; methods ; Temperature ; Time Factors