Background: Ionic liquids are a class of organic salts with melting points equal to or below 100 °C, and their use in sample preparation has shown its promise, for example, in alleviation of environmental pollution and improvement of selectivity and extraction of certain interesting compounds.
Results: Optimal conditions were obtained by using 1.0 mol L(-1) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate ([Bmim][MS]) aqueous solution at pH 1.0 as the extraction solvent. An ultrasonic power of 200 W was chosen to ensure complete dispersion of [Bmim][MS] into celery in 90 min and the solid:liquid ratio was 1:10.
Conclusion: The proposed ultrasonic assistant extraction approach, based on ionic liquid aqueous solution, exhibited satisfactory results, with recovery values ranging from 72.7% to 89.5%. Under optimal conditions, compared with conventional solvent extraction amounts of luteolin and apigenin were more than doubled.
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