Study of the different solvents on silymarin extraction from milk thistle

ABSTRACT

The seeds extract of Milk thistle [Silybum marianum [L]Gaertn]is named silymarin It is used widely in the treatment of cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolemia. There are different methods for production of this compound but the best method is patented. In this study, we study the power of different solvents on silymarin production. 10g of three samples [Marzanabad, Golshan and Hungarian samples cultivated in our research farm], powdered and defatted by petroleum ether, the degatted powders were extracted with one of the following solvents Methanol, ethanol acetone, ethylacetate, and acetonitril. The silymarin content was assayed by HPLC The results showed that methanol is the best solvent in extracting silymarin and all of its components after methanol, acetone and acetonitril had good power, in extracting silymarin and silybin Methanol is the best solvent for silymarin extraction and then acetone and acetonitril could be replaced for it