Enrichment and purification of flavones from rhizomes of Abacopteris penangiana by macroporous resins

AIM: To investigate the enrichment and purification of flavones from the rhizomes of Abacopteris penangiana (RAP) by macroporous resins. METHODS: Static adsorption and desorption tests were performed to select the appropriate resin. The kinetic adsorption and desorption experiments were carried out on selected HPD500 resin to optimize the separation process of flavones. Additionally, the effects of four parameters including adsorption flow rate, elute flow rate, volume of water and ethanol solution for elution were explored by a L4/3 orthogonal experiment. Finally, the ABTS (2, 2'-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical scavenging activities of samples before and after being treated by HPD500 were compared. RESULTS: The results showed that the optimal parameters were initial concentration of 2.86 mg.mL(-1), elute solution of 70% ethanol, absorb flow rate of 1 mL.min(-1), elute flow rate of 2 mL.min(-1), 5 BV of water for elution and 5 BV of ethanol solution for elution. CONCLUSION: The content of flavones is above 60% in RAP after being treated by HPD500, indicating that macroporous resins could be successfully applied to enrich and purify flavones in RAP.