Extractability of rosmarinic acid by using three different aqueous based extraction procedures
Conference Paper
Overview
Overview
abstract
FCT, Portugal and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013). Project
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 – Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM funded by FEDER through COMPETE2020 -
Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) – and by national funds through FCT. FEEI -
North 2020, for financial support within the scope of the Projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-023289: DeCodE and
Mobilizador ValorNatural®, as also to Interreg España-Portugal through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E.
Rosmarinic acid is the main constituent of the rosemary extract (E392), which is the only natural extract
allowed in the European Union to be used as food preservative. Furthermore, rosmarinic acid has many
bioactivities, namely astringent, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antibacterial and antiviral.
It is also used against dyspepsia, dysmenorrhea, rheumatic diseases and Herpes simples, among others
[1]. Various techniques can be employed to extract compounds from different plant parts, including
traditional extraction protocols through maceration, as also extractions assisted by microwaves and
supercritical fluids, among others. In this study, four different plant species were submitted to aqueous
based extractions in order to determine the best conditions to obtain the highest quantity of rosmarinic
acid. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) was chosen due to its permission to be used in the food
industry and also for its high content of rosmarinic acid. Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), Oregano (Origanum
vulgare L.), and Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) were chosen for being putative sources of natural food
preservatives in the near future, having also interesting bioactivities, no toxicity and a fair amount of
rosmarinic acid in relation to rosemary [2]. The three chosen aqueous extraction systems were infusion,
decoction and hydroethanol extraction (80:20, v/v). All the extracts were analysed using a High-
Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a Diode Array Detector and an Electrospray Ionization
Mass Spectrometer (HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS). Table 1 shows the amount of rosmarinic acid in each extraction
conditions (mg/g). It is clear that infusion and hydroethanol extractions are best suited to obtain rosmarinic acid. Infusions
proved to be more suitable in the cases of rosemary and oregano, while the hydroethanol mixture
extracted higher contents in basil and sage. This study highlights infusion as the most adequate
extraction procedure to obtain rosmarinic acid, a compound with great interest in the food industry.
