Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent-Based Ultrasonic-Assisted Simultaneous Extraction of Phenolic Acids and Flavonoids from Erigeron breviscapus and Its Extraction Mechanism Analysis

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs), as a newly developed class of environmentally benign solvents, offer a promising alternative to conventional toxic organic solvents for the extraction of valuable bioactive compounds from medicinal plants. This study developed an innovative green approach for the simultaneous extraction of active ingredients from Erigeron breviscapus (E. breviscapus) by utilizing ultrasound-assisted natural deep eutectic solvent extraction (UAE-NADES). Response surface methodology was employed to systematically optimize the extraction parameters. Under the optimized extraction conditions, the total extraction yield of phenolic acids and flavonoids obtained using UAE-NADES was 68.66 mg/g, demonstrating superior performance compared to that of traditional organic solvents. Additionally, the extraction mechanism of the representative bioactive constituent, scutellarin, established by the proposed method was investigated by using density functional theory (DFT), revealing that hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals forces exerted a significant influence on the extraction process. More importantly, NADES exhibits the capacity for multiple recycling and reuse cycles. Finally, the UAE-NADES strategy was applied to achieve the simultaneous extraction of target bioactive constituents from E. breviscapus under varying light qualities following supplementary lighting. This study provides a novel strategy for the green, sustainable, and simultaneous extraction of multiple bioactive constituents from medicinal plants via recyclable NADES.