EXTRACTION OF HYPERICUM PERFORATUM ME HEXAN, DCM, AND LIQUID CO2

Medicinal and aromatic plants are very important for the economy of Albania. Thousands of tons of medicinal and aromatic plants are exported every year from Albania. Hypericum Perforatum is a very important medicinal plant with very well known effect on the mood of people and as an antidepressant. Extracts of this plant have been used for centuries for internal use and for external use. In literature there are examples of chemical analysis of Hypericum Perforatum using different extraction methods. In this study we are more interested in comparing its volatile components using subcritical CO2 extraction and other traditional extraction methods. The plant used was a locally collected plant which before extraction was dried to a constant weight and grinded as a fine powder. The chemical composition of subcritical CO2 extraction was compared towards the chemical composition of extracts obtained by Soxhlet extraction using as solvent hexane and dichloromethane. The CO2 extraction was done in pressurized autoclave at 65bar and 320C. The crude extract of subcritical CO2 were than diluted in an appropriate solvent and its content was studied with TLC and GC. The crude extracts of solvent extraction were treated at the same way, but after evaporating the excess of solvent. The identification of the volatile components was done by Mass Spectroscopy.