Extraction of medical components from Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort.with supercritical CO_2

The extraction of pharmacologically active ingredient of ferulic acid from Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort.was investigated.The effects of extraction temperature,extraction pressure and the amounts of CO_2 used on the(extraction) yields and the content of ferulic acid in extracts were respectively studied.The experimental results show that about 3.75%-4.77% of extraction rate is obtained at 45-65 ℃ and 30-50 MPa.The mass fraction of(ferulic) acid in extracts is about 0.1%,which is much lower than that obtained by conventional percolation method.When the ethanol is used as co-solvent and its ration to the raw material is 1.6,the extraction yield can increase to 8.24%,and the mass fraction of ferulic acid in extracts is 0.735%,which is much higher,compared with those by percolation method.