Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADESs) for the Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Leaves: A Semi-Quantitative Analysis Using High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography - 2025
Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADESs) for the Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Leaves: A Semi-Quantitative Analysis Using High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography
[en] Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) have emerged as a promising eco-friendly alternative to petrochemicals for extracting plant metabolites. Considering that the demand for sustainable “green” ingredients for industrial applications is growing, those solvents are purported to develop extracts with interesting phytochemical fingerprints and biological activities. Given the interest in flavonoids from Chenopodium quinoa Willd. leaves, an efficient “green” extraction method was developed by investigating eight NADESs with defined molar ratios, i.e., malic acid-choline chloride (chcl)-water (w) (1:1:2, N1), chcl-glucose-w (5:2:5, N2), proline-malic acid-w (1:1:3, N3), glucose-fructose-sucrose-w (1:1:1:11, N4), 1,2-propanediol-chcl-w (1:1:1, N5), lactic acid-glucose-w (5:1:3, N6), glycerol-chcl-w (2:1:1, N7), and xylitol-chcl-w (1:2:3, N8). Rheological measurements of all NADESs confirmed their pseudoplastic behaviors. To improve the extraction processes, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) allowed us to determine the maximum amount of water that could be added to the most stable NADES (N1, N2, N3, and N4; 17.5%, 20%, 10%, and 10% w/w, respectively) to lower their viscosities without disturbing their eutectic environments. The phytochemical compositions of NADES extracts were analyzed using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), and their free radical scavenging and α-amylase inhibitory properties were assessed using HPTLC-bioautography. N2, diluted with 20% of water, and N7 presented the best potential for replacing methanol for an eco-friendly extraction of flavonoids, radical scavengers, and α-amylase inhibitors from quinoa leaves. Their biological properties, combined with a good understanding of both thermal behavior and viscosity, make the obtained quinoa leaf NADES extracts good candidates for direct incorporation in nutraceutical formulations.
Research center :
CIRMAP - Centre d'Innovation et de Recherche en Matériaux Polymères
Disciplines :
Materials science & engineering
Author, co-author :
Taco, Verónica ; Faculty of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Ecuador (UCE), Quito, Ecuador ; Unit of Therapeutic Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Mons (UMONS), Avenue du Champ de Mars, Mons, Belgium
Almachi, Dennys; Faculty of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Ecuador (UCE), Quito, Ecuador
Bonilla, Pablo ; Faculty of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Ecuador (UCE), Quito, Ecuador
Gijón-Arreortúa, Ixchel; Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Autonomous University of, (UADY, Mérida, Mexico
Benali, Samira ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté des Sciences > Service des Matériaux Polymères et Composites
Raquez, Jean-Marie ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté des Sciences > Service des Matériaux Polymères et Composites
Duez, Pierre ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Médecine, Pharmacie et Sciences Biomédicales > Service de Chimie thérapeutique et Pharmacognosie
Nachtergael, Amandine ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie > Service de Chimie thérapeutique et Pharmacognosie
Language :
English
Title :
Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADESs) for the Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Leaves: A Semi-Quantitative Analysis Using High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography
Publication date :
June 2025
Journal title :
Molecules
eISSN :
1420-3049
Publisher :
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
R400 - Institut de Recherche en Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux
Funders :
Académie de recherche et d’enseignement supérieur (ARES)
Funding text :
This work was supported by the Acad\u00E9mie De Recherche Et d\u2019Enseignement Sup\u00E9rieur (ARES) in Belgium through the project \u201CAppui Institutionnel aupr\u00E8s de l\u2019Universit\u00E9 d\u2019Ecuador\u201D. V. Taco grate-fully acknowledges the fellowship granted to her by ARES. We would like to thank the Camag company for the lending of a Visualizer system and their technical support and Maquita Cushunchic (MCCH) in Ecuador for supplying the quinoa leaf samples for this study. We thank Claudio Palmieri, Ra\u00FAl L\u00F3pez, and Benjam\u00EDn Mart\u00EDnez for their help and technical support. The publication of this research was made possible thanks to a publishing fund granted under the Agreement of Institutional Support 2022\u20132027 between the Universidad Central del Ecuador (UCE) and the Acad\u00E9mie de Recherche et d\u2019Enseignement Sup\u00E9rieur (ARES) from Belgium.
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