Preparative separation and purification of gingerols from ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) by high-speed counter-current chromatography

A novel method for purifying gingerols from ginger was developed using a high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). The two-phase solvent system such as light petroleum (bp 60–90 °C)–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:5:6.5:3.5, v/v/v/v) was applied to the separation and purification of 6-, 8- and 10-gingerol from a crude extract of ginger. The experiment yielded 30.2 mg of 6-gingerol, 40.5 mg of 8-gingerol, 50.5 mg of 10-gingerol from 200 mg of crude extract in one-step separation. And the purity of these compounds was 99.9%, 99.9% and 99.2%, respectively, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Their structures were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and 1H, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).