Macroporous Resin Simultaneously Enriched Flavonoids and Saponins with Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activitites from Eclipta Prostrata

In this work, a dual-task method for simultaneous enrichment of active flavonoids (EPFs) and saponins (EPSs) from the crude extract of Eclipta prostrata was established by macroporous resin (MRs). The adsorption and desorption properties of flavonoids and saponins on eight macroporous resins were compared, in which HPD-300 showed the best recovery for flavonoids (72.67%) and saponins (31.09%). The kinetics test showed that the adsorption process was consistent with the quasi-secondary model and fitted better than the quasi-first-order model and the particle diffusion equation simulations. Under the optimum adsorption conditions, the purity of EPFs increased from 8.51% to 60.91%, a 7.2-fold higher, and the purity of EPSs increased from 7.62% to 90.64%, an increase of 12.0 times. By UPLC-MS/MS, IR and DSC-TG, the main flavonoids in EPFs were identified as Quercetin-3 β -D-glucoside, Cynaroside, while the main saponins in EPSs were Liquidambaric acid, Ecliptasaponin A, soybean Saponin I, Deoxylimonin, Convallatoxin, Ecdysterone and Asiatic acid, which had good thermal stability. EPFs had better scavenging ability for ABTS radicals, while EPSs had better scavenging ability for DPPH radicals with high total reducing power, and both had comparable effects on superoxide anion scavenging.  EPFs and EPSs could reduce the production and mRNA expression levels of inflammatory factors NO, TNF- α , and IL-1 β produced by LPS-induced macrophages. It indicates that purified flavonoids and saponins can be used as potential sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents.