Isoflavone was extracted with various concentration of aqueous methanol using whole hypocotyls as the starting material. Whole hypocotyls were preferred as the raw material because the residue could be easily removed from the solvent after the extraction process. Extraction yield was almost constant at the methanol concentration of 20-80%. Most of the isoflavone was extracted within 1 hr, and the extraction yield remained almost constant thereafter. When the concentration of methanol was 80%, the content of total solid was reduced due to the reduced extraction of contaminating protein as the result of protein insolubilization. Among resins tested, Diaion HP-20, Amberlite XAD-16, and Amberlite IRC-50 showed the highest capacity to absorb the compound. Open column chromatography with Diaion HP-20 showed that 80% aqueous ethanol was most efficient as the eluting solvent with final recovery of the phytochemical being more than 95%. Maximum adsorption of the phytochemical occurred at the acidic pH 2-4. When the spatial velocity was increased to 15 and more, the degree of adsorption was decreased, whereas below spatial velocity of 15, the adsorption capacity of isoflavone to the resin was almost constant. The purity of the isoflavone purified by column chromatography was 78%
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
Conclusions