Optimization of ionic liquid-based microwave extraction of flavonoid and phenolic acid from Labisia Pumila Free

Ionic liquids have attracted many researches in bioactive compound separation as well as carbon capture. This is due to the ability of ionic liquid to be designed based on specific needs and produced higher quantity and quality of extract product. A study showed that ionic liquid can extract a higher number of phytochemicals compared to conventional solvents and produce better yield with microwave-assisted extraction. Due to vast possible structures of ionic liquid and wide range of phytochemicals existed, a systematic approach was developed to screen ionic liquid solvents for phytochemical extraction. This study is a part of experimental validation included in the systematic approach. The main focus of this study is to optimize the process of ionic liquid-based microwave-assisted extraction of flavonoid and phenolic acid from Labisia pumila. A two-level, four-factor of central composite design (CCD) was employed to determine the effect of the process factors towards yield of flavonoid and phenolic acid extracted from the herb. The process factors are the temperature (Celsius), extraction time (min), power (W) and type of ionic liquid (based on their dielectric point). In this study, ionic liquid was back-extracted using organic solvents for regeneration and recycle of extraction solvent, based on Bogdanov (2015). The extracted samples were analyzed by determining the yield of flavonoid and phenolic acid through linear equation of quercetin and gallic acid. In this study, it can be observed that the recovery of flavonoid and phenolic acid from L. pumila using ionic liquid-based microwave-assisted extraction was about 30 – 50 percent higher compared to conventional solvent. Therefore, the study indicated that ionic liquid-based microwave-assisted extraction was an efficient and rapid method for L. pumila phytochemical extraction.