ANALYSIS OF EXTRACTS FROM CEDRELA-TOONA (MELIACEAE) BY ONLINE AND OFF-LINE SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID EXTRACTION CAPILLARY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A quantitative comparison between off-line supercritical fluid extract ion (SFE) and a classical solvent extraction of a limonoid compound is discussed. A two-level, three factor factorial analysis was used to o ptimize the variables, pressure, temperature, and the length of extrac tion time. By a statistical analysis of variance on the preliminary da ta collected, pressure and temperature were the significant variables influencing the yields of the limonoid cedrelone from the ground wood of Cedrela toona (Meliaceae). The cedrelone in the extracts was analyz ed by capillary gas chromatography with flame ionization and mass spec trometric detection. On-line combination of micro-SFE with gas chromat ography (SFE-GC) was also performed on the wood and bark to show the a pplicability of the technique in the analysis of semi-volatile compone nts in natural products. Results for on-line and off-line SFE-GC were comparable and indicated that the on-line studies could be used to pre dict results obtainable from large scale SFE. (C) 1996 John Wiley & So ns, Inc.