Centrifugal partition chromatography for the isolation of tropical orchid constituents

Orchidaceae is one of the largest botanical families and some species have been used as ingredients of traditional preparations with beneficial properties. Despite the high popularity of these plants, there are really few studies concerning their chemical composition. In the aim to acquire more basic knowledge about metabolites from different tropical orchids, several species were selected. The present study deals with the rapid isolation of orchid constituents by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC). Dried aerial parts were extracted with CH₂Cl₂, and the obtained extract was fractionated by CPC using the solvent system n-heptane-ethyl acetate-methanol-0,1% formic acid. Different proportions were tested to find convenient solvent conditions for the separation of potential chemotaxonomic markers.