In this study, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultraviolet (UV), thermagravimetric analyzer (TGA), pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used as measurement techniques, contents of chemical composition, pyrolytic products, thermal stability, morphological characterization of Ginkgo biloba leaves (GBL) acted as the index, and physicochemical properties of GBL after enzymolysis based ultrasound extraction (EBUE) and Soxhlet extraction were studied. The detection results of chemical composition revealed that contents of general flavone, soluble protein, soluble total sugar and protein in the GBL declined significantly after EBUE, and contents of polyprenols and crude fat obviously reduced as well after Soxhlet extraction. Py-GC-MS results indicated that total GC contents of micromolecules with carbon less than 12 from 54.0% before EBUE decline to 8.34% after EBUE. Total GC contents of long-chain fatty acids with carbon less than 20 from 43.0% before EBUE reduced to 27.0% after Soxhlet extraction. Thermal stability results showed that GBL after Soxhlet extraction was easier to decompose than GBL before EBUE. SEM results illustrated that surface structure of GBL was damaged severely after EBUE, compared with GBL before EBUE, while organic solvent extraction had little influence on the morphological characterization of GBL after Soxhlet extraction compared with GBL after EBUE.
Keywords: Ginkgo biloba leaves; Soxhlet extraction; enzymolysis; physicochemical properties; ultrasound.