Preparative isolation of terpene trilactones from Ginkgo biloba leaves

This study investigated and compared some techniques for the preparative isolation of terpene trilactones, including ginkgolides (GA and GB, etc.) and bilobalide (BB), from Ginkgo biloba leaves. The crude Ginkgo biloba L. extracts (GBE) were prepared using an extractor with solvent refluxing operated under an optimal extraction condition. The extraction yield was 20–23% and the purity of terpene trilactones was about 1.0–1.4 wt%. Before the isolation operations, the extracts were dissolved in de-ionized water. The isolation procedures included the method of liquid–liquid extraction and the method of column chromatography. For the method of liquid–liquid extraction using ethyl acetate as the organic solvent operated under the optimal extraction conditions, the purity, concentration ratio, and yield of terpene trilactones were 13.5–18.0%, 15–16, and >99%. For the method of column chromatography, XAD-7HP, XAD-4, and C-18 adsorbents with different polarities were used as the packing materials. Only for the XAD-7HP column, a part of more polar impurities was efficiently separated with the majority of terpene trilactones by a proper step-gradient elution, which resulted in an efficient isolation: the purity, concentration ratio, and yield of terpene trilactones were ∼20, ∼15, and ∼80%. In comparison, the XAD-7HP column achieved the highest purity, but at the expense of the yield of terpene trilactones; on the contrary, the liquid–liquid extraction method, achieving the highest yield but with a slightly lower purity, was proved to be superior to the method of column chromatography in the current isolation stage.