Preparative purification of salidroside from Rhodiola rosea by two-step adsorption chromatography on resins

Salidroside is an effective adaptogenic drug extracted from Rhodiola species. In the present study, a simple and efficient method for preparative separation and purification of salidroside from the Chinese medicinal plant Rhodiola rosesa was developed by adsorption chromatography on macroporous resins. The static adsorption isotherms and kinetics of some resins have been determined and compared for preparative separation of salidroside. According to our results, HPD-200 resin is the most appropriate medium for the separation of salidroside and its adsorption data fit the Langmuir isotherm well. Dynamic adsorption and desorption were carried out in glass columns packed with HPD-200 to optimize the separation process. After two adsorption and desorption runs, a product with a salidroside content of 92.21% and an overall recovery of 48.82% was achieved. In addition, pure lamellar crystals of salidroside with a purity of 99.00% could be obtained from this product. Its molecular weight was determined by an ESI-MS method. The simple purification scheme avoids toxic organic solvents used in silica gel and high-speed counter-current chromatographic separation processes and thus increases the safety of the process and can be helpful for large-scale salidroside production from Rhodiola rosea or other plant extracts.