Recovery of Saponins from Jua (Ziziphus joazeiro) by Micellar Extraction and Cloud Point Preconcentration

Abstract

Juá (Ziziphus joazeiro) is a Brazilian plant and its bark has been used as a detergent and phytotherapic due to its high saponin content (2–10 %). Saponins are triterpenic glycosides with some properties that aid their use in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The object of the present work was to develop an extraction and concentration process of saponins from jua bark, using green solvents such as water and ethanol. Firstly, the extraction conditions optimization was carried out using a central composite design, and compared with other methods such as Soxhlet, ultrasound‐assisted extraction and micellar extraction. Then, cloud point preconcentration was tested to select the salt type and its concentration which promotes a higher concentration factor and partition coefficient at room temperature. Finally, the removal of a t‐octyl phenol ethoxylate (9–10 EO) nonionic surfactant by adsorption was evaluated by optimizing the adsorbent type and its concentration, temperature and time of adsorption, in addition to the adsorbent recycling. Orbital shaker extraction leads to a recovery of 45.6 % saponins under the following conditions: temperature, 38.8 °C; jua/solvent ratio, 0.272; stirring speed, 300 rpm; extraction time, 2 h. Under these conditions, saponins recovery reached 90.8 % when using 15 % v/v of the nonionic surfactant, and a preconcentration factor of 14.2 was obtained by adding sodium carbonate 20 % w/v. The preconcentration factor decreased to a value of 10.1, after nonionic surfactant removal by a hydrophobic crosslinked polystyrene copolymer resin.

Optimized Aqueous Extraction of Saponins from Bitter Melon for Production of a Saponin‐Enriched Bitter Melon Powder

“…However, even though ethanol is not as toxic to health as some of the other organic solvents, water is always preferable as an extraction solvent because it is nontoxic, environmentally friendly, and inexpensive compared with organic solvents (Vuong and others ). Importantly, water has been found to effectively extract saponins from other plant materials such as safed musli, teas, and jua (Barve and others ; Ramdani and others ; Ribeiro and others ). Furthermore, powdered bitter melon aqueous extracts have been shown to improve glycemic control, suggesting that it could be safely prescribed to diabetic patients (Virdi and others ; Wang and others ).…”

Structure-activity relationship of triterpenoid saponins: Biological properties and commercial applicabilities

“…Herbal medicine on the liver Sweetener and flavor enhancer in foods and cigarettes [36,34,37] Sapindus saponins Sapindus mukorossi Gaerth Ingredient in cosmetics [34] Jua bark saponins Z. joazeiro Mart Detergent, dentifrice and phytotherapic [38] Asiaticoside Centella asiatica Herbal medicine in wound healing [39] Ginsenosides Panax ginseng Meyer Herbal medicine to treat inflammation [40]…”

Pb(II) Ion Removal Potential in Chemically Modified Ziziphus joazeiro Barks

“…Belonging to the Rhamnaceae Family, Ziziphus joazeiro is a tree naturally present in Brazil, known mainly in the northeastern semiarid region—in Caatinga biome as “Enjoá”, “joá”, “joazeiro” [ 1 ]. The joazeiro’s fruit is used for animal and human food, and its other parts for energy purposes (firewood production), traditional medicine by the local population where the leaves, inner bark and roots are used to treat fever, bacterial infections, gingivitis, respiratory diseases and for other purposes [ 2 ], and cosmetic purposes because the trunk cortex and leaves are rich in saponin, which has great detergent value, being widely used in anti-dandruff shampoo, hair tonic and in the composition of soaps and toothpastes [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Nowadays, several local communities still use this plant for personal hygiene [ 6 ]; it is easy to find the crushed bark powder and the dried leaves at popular natural product markets.…”