Separation of glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin from licorice root by aqueous nonionic surfactant mediated extraction

Aqueous two-phase extraction with nonionic surfactant is a new class of extraction system due to their many unique properties such as safe and environmental friendly chemicals. In this study, investigation has been carried out to determine the suitability of a nonionic surfactant micellar extraction in replacing volatile organic solvents for extraction and separation of glycyrrhizic acid from aqueous licorice extraction solutions. New experimental data for the partitioning of two ingredients, glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and liquiritin (LQ), between water and micellar coacervate phase, at different pH values have been reported. The results confirm the suitability of this micellar extraction system for the purification of GA. GA from leaching solution of licorice root was quantitatively recovered in the coacervate phase, with the recovery of 95%, and it was subsequently separated from the surfactant by twice could point extraction with the recovery of 90.3%. The results also show that the partitioning of GA between coacervate and water phase is highly influenced by the pH of the solution as well as their chemical structures.