Retention of Alkamides in Dried Echinacea purpurea

Abstract

Different drying methods, such as freeze-drying (FD), vacuum microwave drying (VMD), and air-drying (AD), were applied to fresh roots and leaves of Canadian-grown Echinacea purpurea to determine the optimal method for preserving alkamide levels. Using HPLC, six alkamide fractions (alkamides 1, 2, 3, 6a/6, 7, 8/9) were quantitated in dried roots, whereas four alkamide fractions (alkamides 1, 2, 3, 8/9) were measured in dried leaves. Different elution conditions used in HPLC for alkamide analysis did not affect the eluted fractions nor the quantitation of different alkamides. Individual alkamide concentrations in roots and leaves were affected by the drying methods used. To preserve higher levels of total alkamides, FD was found to be the best method, VMD was a superior method for drying roots than AD at 70 degrees C, while AD at 50 degrees C was the preferred method for drying leaves of E. purpurea.

Caffeoyl phenols and alkamides of cultivatedEchinacea purpureaandEchinacea atrorubensvar.paradoxa

“…Many alkamides have been isolated and identified from the roots and flowers of E. purpurea (Kim et al, 2000;Stuart & Wills, 2000;Binns et al, 2002;Clifford et al, 2002), with dodeca-2E,4E,8Z,10E-tetraenoic acid isobutylamide (alkamide 8) and dodeca-2E,4E,8Z,10Z-tetraenoic acid isobutylamide (alkamide 9) being predominant (Kim et al, 2000), particularly in the young tops (Qu et al, 2005). In the present study, alkamides 8 and 9 were detectable in flower heads, leaves and root portions of E. purpurea plants (Tables 3, 4, and 5).…”

“…The contents of total phenolic, several caffeoyl derivatives, and alkamides were also determined and compared among the tested E. purpurea cultivars and selected populations. Various alkamides have been isolated and identified from the roots and flowers of E. purpurea (Binns et al, 2002), with dodeca-2E,4E,8Z,10E-tetraenoic acid isobutylamide (alkamide 8) and dodeca-2E,4E,8Z,10Z-tetraenoic acid isobutylamide (alkamide 9) being predominant (Kim et al, 2000). Therefore, only alkamide 8 and alkamide 9 were determined in the present study.…”

Effect of High Pressure Pasteurization on Bacterial Load and Bioactivity of Echinacea Purpurea

“…Livesey and others (1999) showed that chicoric acid was lost during storage conditions under 40 °C. The level of alkamide(s) retention in E. purpurea roots and leaves can also be variable, depending on the method used to dry product (Kim and others 2000b). These results indicated that temperature influences the retention of E. purpurea phytochemical biomarkers; good indicators of estimating herb quality as well as predicting functional activity for use as health remedies.…”

Purple Coneflower and OtherEchinaceaSpecies

“…Terpenoids (camphene, limonene, β -myrcene, ocimene, α -and β -pinene, terpene) predominated (i.e., 82 -91%) in the headspace analysis of volatile components from fl owers and stems, whereas headspace analysis of volatile components from roots contain 41 -57% aldehydes (2 -and 3 -methylbutanal, 2methylpropanal, 2 -propanal, acetaldehyde), alcohols, and 6 -21% terpenoids. 14 Alkamides occur in alcoholic extracts of the aerial parts and roots from E. purpurea and E. angustifolia . The major categories of chemicals in Echinacea species are alkamides and caffeic acid conjugates (caftaric acid, chlorogenic acid, cynarin, echinacoside, cichoric acid).…”