Studies on Chebulinic Acid Extraction from Terminalia chebula species

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Engineering - Chemical Engineering, Andhra University (Andhra University College of Engineering (A)), course: M.Tech Bio Technology, language: English, abstract: Herbal drug product has a special place in the world of pharmaceuticals. Terminalia chebula is a deciduous tree, used in traditional medicines. It is reported to contain various bio chemical compounds such as tannins, chebulinic acid, ellagic acid, gallic acid, punicalagin, flavonoids etc. It has been reported as antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anticancerous, antiulcer, antimutagenic, wound healing activities etc.

The optimization of physico-chemical parameters like effects of different solvents, soaking time, extraction time with hexane, particle size, different solvent percentages, different volumes of hexane with ethanol and methanol as solvents and pH for the extraction of Total Phenolic Content, Chebulinic acid and Quercetin were studied. The extraction was carried out by employing various organic solvents using Soxhlet extractor method. Ethanol was found to be the best solvent for the extraction of Chebulinic acid from Terminalia chebula species. Soxhlet extractor was carried out using ethanol at different extraction times to verify the mathematical model proposed in this work.

The optimization of physico-chemical parameters required for obtaining the highest production of Chebulinic acid using Baker¿s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisia.Among the extraction process (Batch, Soxhlet& Fermentation process) the highest Chebulinic acid production was obtained from fermentation process. The partition coefficient for fermentation, soxhlet & batch extraction were found to be 3.83, 2.0 & 0.64.

The extraction of Chebulinic acid from Terminalia chebula by Soxhlet extraction and purify the Chebulinic acid by using Column chromatography. Chebulinic acid showed many bioactivities including inhibition of cancer cell growth, inhibiting the contractile responses of cardiovascular muscles, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial activities etc. Finally the Chebulinic acid extraction from Terminalia chebula plays a vital role in medicine, biotechnology and various pharmacological activities.