Compound Specific Extraction of Camptothecin from Nothapodytes nimmoniana and Piperine from Piper nigrum Using Accelerated Solvent Extractor

Effects of varying temperatures with constant pressure of solvent on extraction efficiency of two chemically different alkaloids were studied. Camptothecin (CPT) from stem of Nothapodytes nimmoniana (Grah.) Mabb. and piperine from the fruits of Piper nigrum L. were extracted using Accelerated Solvent Extractor (ASE). Three cycles of extraction for a particular sample cell at a given temperature assured complete extraction. CPT and piperine were determined and quantified by using a simple and efficient UFLC-PDA (245 and 343？nm) method. Temperature increased efficiency of extraction to yield higher amount of CPT, whereas temperature had diminutive effect on yield of piperine. Maximum yield for CPT was achieved at and for piperine at . Thus, the study determines compound specific extraction of CPT from N. nimmoniana and piperine from P. nigrum using ASE method. The present study indicates the use of this method for simple, fast, and accurate extraction of the compound of interest. 1. Introduction Camptothecin (CPT) a known potent anticancer active compound and piperine an economically important high valued alkaloid were used as the marker compounds (Figure 1(a)). Camptothecin was originally isolated from a Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminata (Nyssaceae) [1]. It is also reported in Nothapodytes nimmoniana and few other species belonging to unrelated orders of angiosperm classification [2–4]. Nothapodytes nimmoniana occupies important position in plant-based anticancer drugs because of CPT. Enormous demand for this alkaloid worldwide in the recent years has been subject to haphazard exploitation of the populations from wild. More than 20% decline in the population of N. nimmoniana from Western Ghats region has led to classify it in “vulnerable” category [5]. Figure 1: Chemical structures of camptothecin and piperine. Piperine, an important alkaloid, has been reported from the fruits of many wild species and domesticated cultivars of Piper nigrum L. (Figure 1(b)) [6–8]. Piper nigrum also known as “King of Spices” (black pepper) is considered an important commodity of commerce in agriculture [9]. Identification and quantification of metabolites by any analytical technique depend upon its extraction. Extraction may refer to separation of analytes from a complex matrix. The extraction efficiency is greatly influenced by factors such as: solvent composition, solvent to solid ratio, temperature, time, and method of extraction [10–12]. Till date the number of extraction methods has been implied for extraction of CPT [13, 14] and piperine [15–17] by using Soxhlet,