Medicinal Plant Extraction

Development of a two-stage system for drying and extracting medicinal plants – Characterization of the medicinal plant processing method and determination of suitable process parameters for the production of high-quality phytopharmaceuticals

Projektstatus

Laufend

Projektlaufzeit

01.05.2023

- 01.04.2025

Ansprechpartner

Katrin Imp

Ausgangslage

Alternative natural healing methods are gaining in importance and complement conventional medicine. The project is therefore developing a two-stage system for drying and extracting medicinal plants. In addition to drying the harvested plant components, various methods for extracting the active ingredients they contain will also be implemented, so that the entire processing of harvested plant material can be carried out using a single piece of equipment.

Projektbeschreibung

Since the project began in May 2023, suppliers of commercially available phytopharmaceuticals have been identified, and oregano has been provided as a reference material at various stages of processing. To enable the qualitative evaluation of products from the planned two-stage facility, analytical methods were developed and adapted at the DIL. These include methods for determining essential oil content as well as benchmarks for oil extraction, hydrolate, and solvent extracts on a laboratory scale. A TEAC assay was established for antioxidant evaluation; the polyphenol content, as a key influencing factor, is determined using a modified Folin-Ciocalteu method. For volatile constituents, GC/MS methods—including thermodesorption and PDMS solid-phase extraction for aqueous samples—were tested. At the same time, the project partners defined a requirements profile for the laboratory facility: drying with temperature-controlled air, gentle mixing, reliable water removal, and a suitable lid design for the extraction process.