Comparison of extraction methods for an anticancer drug, Vinblastine

In the present study a comparison was made between different extractions methods for anticancer drug Vinblastine from Catharanthus roseus. Extraction was carried out by using two different methods i.e., Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE) and Soxhlet Extraction using ethanol and a few drops of conc. HCl as an extracting solvent. Estimation of Vinblastine was done by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) by using acetonitrile as mobile phase. Microwave assisted extraction was proved to be a better approach for rapid and efficient extraction of Vinblastine from plant material. It was found that Microwave assisted extraction gave the maximum amount of extract of Catharanthus roseus that is 0.43 g while using lesser time of extraction (30 seconds) with a very little amount of solvent used (10 mL/g) as compared to Soxhlet extraction (23.01 g in 10 hours).