Optimization of Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Embelin from Embelia ribes using Response Surface Methodology

Embelia ribes Burm is one of the most significant plants in Indian traditional systems of medicine. The preparations of the drug are used for the treatment of liver ailments, leprosy, ringworm infections and gastrointestinal disorders. An ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) technique was developed and optimized for the fast extraction of embelin from fruit of E. ribes using response surface methodology (RSM).The content of embelin in E. ribes was analyzed and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV detection (HPLC-UV). The extraction temperature, extraction time and solvent drug ratio, the three main factors for UAE, were optimized with Box-Behnken design (BBD) to obtain the highest extraction efficiency. The optimal conditions were as follows: extraction time (27.50 min) and extraction temperature 45 °C and solvent drug ratio (8:1). Under these conditions, the yield of embelin reached 32.17%, which was comparable to the predicted yield (31.07%, p > 0.05). This indicated that the model was adequate for the extraction process The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated a high goodness of model fit and the success of the RSM method for optimizing embelin extraction from the fruit of E. ribes.