Preparative supercritical fluid extraction of pyrethrin I and II from pyrethrum flower

A preparative supercritical fluid extraction system is described and was used with supercritical carbon dioxide to extract the active insecticide components pyrethrin I (PI) and pyrethrin II (PII) successfully from pyrethrum flower. A high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed and was used to separate and analyze the supercritical carbon dioxide extracts. Extraction efficiencies under several different extraction conditions were examined. Under the conditions examined, the most effective extractions of PI and PII (140 +/- 18 mg and 55 +/- 9 mg per 100 g of dry pyrethrum flower powder) were performed at 40 degrees C and 1200 psi. The results showed that extraction efficiencies of supercritical carbon dioxide are much better than those of n-hexane for pyrethrins I and II. During the extraction process, the most efficient extraction period was the first 3 h of the experiment.