D-limonene as an alternative for the extraction and purification of nuciferine from lotus leaf via multi-stage vortex assisted two-phase solvent extraction integrated with solid phase extraction using mesoporous material SBA-15 as adsorbent

This work aims to resolve the environmental pollution caused by petroleum ether in the production of pure nuciferine from lotus leaf by applying bio-based solvent (D-limonene) and green solvent (ethyl acetate). Some obvious advantages were observed, over 97% of nuciferine could be extracted by vortex assisted two-phase solvent extraction based on multi-stage strategy (MS-VTSE), over 90% of nuciferine could be recovered by solid phase extraction (SPE), and over 97% of nuciferine could be obtained by pH-dependent liquid-liquid extraction (pH-LLE). It follows that the newly developed method can not only avoid the use of petroleum ether, but also increase the yield of the whole process by 14% (57%) in comparing with the result of the original one (50%) reported in our previous study. As D-limonene could by recycled conveniently, solvents replacement has little effect on the cost of production. In a word, the newly proposed method has advantages in environmental protection and solvent saving, thus, is fitting for the green and low-cost production of pure nuciferine from lotus leaf.