Activated carbon treatment of water extracts of Artemisia princeps pampanini to retain bioactive phenolic compounds and remove volatiles

Artemisia princeps Pampanini used as a medicinal herb in Asian countries has undesirable flavors. Water extracts from A. princeps Pampanini were used to quantitatively evaluate off-flavor volatiles and bioactive phenolic compounds through activated carbon (AC) processing using GC/MS and reversed-phase HPLC analyses, respectively. As the amount of AC increased, the content of individual volatiles and phenolic compounds gradually decreased. AC treatment significantly (p<0.05) decreased amounts of six off-flavor volatiles, compared to controls without AC treatment. With AC treatment, quantities of the C10 volatiles 1,8-cineol, γ-terpinene, and α-terpineol decreased by over 55%, whereas quantities of the C15 volatiles trans-caryophyllene and trans-β-farnesene decreased by less than 40%. Water extracts treated with 1% (w/v) AC exhibited a non-significant (p>0.05) loss of major phenolic compounds, compared to controls. Treatment with 1% (w/v) AC effectively removes off-flavor compounds and achieves minimal loss of phenolic compounds.

3-CQA (neochlorogenic acid), 4-CQA (crypto- chlorogenic acid),1,5-diCQA, 3,4-diCQA, 3,5-diCQA, and 4,5-diCQA were purchased from Chengdu Biopurify Phytochemicals Ltd. (Chengdu, China).