Development of a green and optimized process for isolating high-purity naringin and neohesperidin from Qu aurantii fructus

This study introduces a green, optimized process for efficiently extracting high-purity naringin and neohesperidin from Qu Aurantii Fructus, a valuable traditional Chinese medicine. The total flavonoids from Qu Aurantii Fructus were extracted using ultrasonic-assisted ethanol extraction and subsequently purified with AB-8 resin, followed by the separation of high-purity naringin and neohesperidin through polyamide column chromatography. The investigation into the effect of ultrasound duration on the yield of total flavonoids revealed that at an ultrasonic duration of 25 min, the extraction yield of total flavonoids can reach its maximum. A thin-layer chromatography (TLC) system was employed to optimize the solvent system for the separation of naringin and neohesperidin, utilizing machine vision to assist in calculating and predicting the optimal solvent ratio, thereby simplifying the process and reducing variability and bias. The optimal solvent ratio (ethanol/ethyl acetate = 0.2848) was identified, leading to the successful isolation of high-purity naringin and neohesperidin (95.15 % and 99 %, respectively) through polyamide column chromatography and recrystallization. This process is devoid of toxic organic reagents, which enhances process safety and presents potential prospects for industrial applications, offering an efficient and eco-friendly method for the extraction and purification of valuable natural products