A review of modern sample-preparation techniques for the extraction and analysis of medicinal plants

Abstract

Sample preparation is the crucial first step in the analysis of herbs. In recent years there has been increasing interest worldwide in the use of alternative/herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of various illnesses. Currently, however, quality-related problems (lack of consistency, safety, and efficacy) seem to be overshadowing the potential genuine health benefits of various herbal products. Thus, the development of "modern" sample-preparation techniques with significant advantages over conventional methods for the extraction and analysis of medicinal plants is likely to play an important role in the overall effort of ensuring and providing high-quality herbal products to consumers worldwide. In this article, recent developments and applications of modern sample-preparation techniques for the extraction, clean-up, and concentration of analytes from medicinal plants or herbal materials are reviewed. These modern techniques include solid-phase microextraction, supercritical-fluid extraction, pressurized-liquid extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, solid-phase extraction, and surfactant-mediated extraction.

Application of surfactants and microemulsions to the extraction of pyrene and phenanthrene from soil with three different extraction methods

“…Recently, studies have demonstrated the use of micellar media as an alternative to organic solvent for extracting organic pollutants from solid environmental samples [21][22][23][24]. Moreover, Huie [25,26] and Ong [27,28] proved that the surfactant solutions in ASE can effectively extract the active ingredients in medicinal plants, and avoid the degradation of thermally unstable ingredients at high temperature. To the best of our knowledge, the reports on the use of environmental friendly surfactant solutions in ASE of PAHs from soil are rather limited.…”

Detection and confirmation of hispolon in the mushroom Phellinus linteus

“…Many factors such as solvent characteristic, extraction time, temperature, and ratio of sample to solvent have an influence on extraction 11 . In this experiment, we selected ethanol as a solvent followed the work of Chen et al 8 because the crude extract of PL contains effective component in an anti-cancer test.…”

Study of antibacterial activity of selected Iranian plant extracts on Helicobacter pylori

“…The concentrated extracts were then placed on watch glass and heated, 40 °C, to speed the evaporation of solvents. Finally, dried extracts of the plants were obtained [25][26][27][28].…”