Extraction of Antioxidant Lutein from Various Flowers

摘要

Antioxidant lutein is a fat-soluble xanthophyll and could be found in a wide range of natural sources. A variety of separation and analytical methods have been developed for the determination of lutein, including solvent extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, and high performance liquid chromatography. The objective of the present study was to extract and estimate lutein in variety of flowers. Solvent extraction was carried out using Petroleum ether, Ethanol and diethyl ether as a solvent system. The extracted lutein was estimated using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The lutein content was found to be higher in ethanolic extracts from flowers of flame tree among the flowers investigated and estimated to be 0.083μg/g. The least was found in extracts of Petroleum ether from Rose and estimated to be 0.01 μg/g.