Abstract
AbstractMany plants have medicinal properties due to substances known as phytochemicals. To utilize these plants in practice, numerous procedures, such as extraction, isolation and characterization methods and toxicology and bioactivity studies, must be designed and implemented. Integrated approach to process Carpobrotus edulis, a weed medicinal plant widely spread in Portugal, was developed into a closed loop of two processes: microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and activation (MAA), to produce both phytochemicals and biochar. The use of MAE for phytochemical extraction was shown to be more energy efficient than conventional Soxhlet extraction: the process time was decreased by 7–8 times, and the energy efficiency was increased by up to 97%. The yield of the extracts is of 27%. Qualitative and quantitative identification/characterization of the phytochemicals were performed by LC-MS and phytochemical screening assays. The results clearly indicated that Carpobrotus edulis is rich by flavonoids (up to 24%). The use of MAA to process the residual biomass could shorten the activation time, resulting in reduced energy consumption. Biochar with a high yield of 65% (on a biomass basis) and a well-developed texture (surface area of 68.9 m2/g; total pore volume of 0.10 cm3/g; micropore volume of 0.07 cm3/g) is obtained.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference45 articles.
1. Research and Markets. Europe phytochemicals and plant extracts market by applications - analysis and forecast to 2019. http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/x6lww9/europe (2015).
2. World Health Organisation (WHO), World Conservation Union (IUCN) & World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants. (WHO/IUCN/WWF, 1993).
3. Vilà, M. et al. Widespread resistance of Mediterranean island ecosystems to the establishment of three alien species. Divers. Distrib. 14, 839–851 (2008).
4. Schierenbeck, K. A., Symonds, V. V., Gallagher, K. G. & Bell, J. Genetic variation and phylogeographic analyses of two species of Carpobrotus and their hybrids in California. Mol. Ecol. 14, 539–547 (2005).
5. Tamilselvan, N., Thirumalai, T., Shyamala, P. & David, E. A review on some poisonous plants and their medicinal values. Journal of Acute Disease 3, 85–89 (2014).
Cited by
14 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献