Phytochemical profile of andrographis paniculata extract from solvent partition and precipitation

Abstract

A rapid and simple method to profile intense phytochemicals in Andrographis paniculata was carried out in this study. The intense phytochemicals could be the main contributors for the previously reported biological activities of the herb. A. paniculata was extracted using 70 % ethanol in a reflux system for 2 hours. The crude extract was further fractionated by organic solvents such as ethyl acetate, butanol and chloroform with the aim to recover terpene derived phytochemicals. The increase of saponin content in the organic fractions could be seen and estimated using vanillin assay catalyzed by strong acids. Data LC-DAD-MS/MS revealed that the solvent systems could recover apigenin glucuronide, andrographolide and dehydroandrographolide dimer, but butanol fraction could recover additional compound for 4-deoxyphloridzin. Although butanol fraction was also found to have the lowest saponin content, the fraction could recover andrographolide and saponin via acetone precipitation effectively. It was found that only apigenin glucuronide could be precipitated if crude extract was directly used in acetone precipitation without solvent partition. The findings of this study could be used as a guideline for those researchers who would like to concentrate the biologically active phytochemicals such as andrographolide and its derivatives in samples for high-end product formulation.