Z. Hromadkova et al., Comparison of classical and ultrasound-assisted extraction of polysaccharides from Salvia officinalis L., ULTRASON SO, 5(4), 1999, pp. 163-168
After preparation of medicine tinctures from the herbal plant Salvia offici
nalis by classical and ultrasound-assisted extraction with aqueous ethanol,
the insoluble plant residues were subsequently treated with hot water and
dilute alkali to isolate polysaccharide cell wall components. The yields of
the hot water extract as well as total extracted polysaccharides were high
er in the case of the ultrasound-treated plant in both laboratory and pilot
plant experiments. The water-extractable polysaccharide fractions, in all
cases, contained glucose, galactose and arabinose as main sugar components,
whereas the alkali-extractable fractions were rich in xylans. The fraction
s also contained considerable amounts of proteins. The water-soluble polysa
ccharides may contribute to the biological activity of the plant decoction.
The results indicate that the addition of a subsequent extraction step dur
ing the preparation of the herbal tincture might contribute to a better exp
loitation of the raw material. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re
served.