Preparation, development, and scale-up of standardized pentacyclic triterpenoid-rich extract from Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. and study of its wound healing activity

Mingkwan Rachpirom; Wiwat Pichayakorn; Panupong Puttarak

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17807

Preparation, development, and scale-up of standardized pentacyclic triterpenoid-rich extract from Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. and study of its wound healing activity

Heliyon. 2023 Jul 5;9(7):e17807. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17807. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Authors

Mingkwan Rachpirom^{1

2}, Wiwat Pichayakorn³, Panupong Puttarak^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai, Songkhla, 90112, Thailand.
² Phytomedicine and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Research Center, Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai, Songkhla, 90112, Thailand.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai, Songkhla, 90112, Thailand.

Abstract

This pilot-scale study of an innovative green extraction method shows increased biomarker content in plant extracts. Moreover, green extraction methods decrease the effects on the environment and human health and promote industrial growth. This study optimized the process conditions to obtain a pentacyclic triterpenoid-rich extract (PRE) from Centella asiatica (L.) Urb., which contains asiatic acid, madecassic acid, asiaticoside, and madecassoside, and evaluated its biological activities. PRE preparation was scaled up from laboratory to pilot scale. In the pilot scale, a combination of microwave-assisted extraction with an irradiation power of 4 kW and an ultrasonic-assisted extraction at 0.55 kW was used for C. asiatica extraction. The total pentacyclic triterpene content was 106.02 mg/g of crude extract. Then, the C. asiatica extract was fractionated by a macroporous resin (Diaion® HP-20). The PRE preparation method used 50% and 75% EtOH fractions. This PRE produced a high content of pentacyclic triterpenoids at 681.12 mg/g of crude extract. It presented a high anti-inflammatory effect with an IC₅₀ value of 23.88 μg/mL for nitric oxide inhibition and induced wound healing processes (proliferation, migration, and collagen synthesis) in human dermal fibroblast cells. The information gained from this study can advance the industrial extraction of physiologically active substances from various plant sources for use as medicines or components of supplemental food and cosmeceutical products.

Keywords: Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.; Green extraction; Microwave-assisted extraction; Pentacyclic triterpene; Ultrasonic-assisted extraction; Wound healing.