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Recovery of arbutin in high purity from fruit peels of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai)

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Abstract

β-Arbutin is one of the most abundant compounds in pear fruit and has been widely used as a whitening agent in cosmetic products. In this study, a simple method for the purification and isolation of arbutin in high purity from the fruit peel of a pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai cv. Chuhwangbae) was developed. The high extraction efficiency of arbutin was accomplished with 80% ethanol under acidic conditions (pH 3.0). In the partition between water and ethyl acetate, almost all of the arbutin (78%) was detected in the water layer. Therefore, arbutin was further purified and isolated from the water layer using Diaion HP-20 column chromatography and preparative HPLC. The isolated arbutin represented a 60% recovery with a purity exceeding 99%.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science & Technology, and Functional Food Research Center, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Korea

    Jeong-Yong Cho, Keun Young Park, Ki Hoon Lee, Hyoung Jae Lee, Keun-Hyung Park & Jae-Hak Moon

  2. Korea Pear Research Organization, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Korea

    Sang-Hyun Lee, Jeong An Cho, Wol-Soo Kim & Jae-Hak Moon

  3. Department of Horticulture, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Korea

    Wol-Soo Kim

  4. Division of Food Science, Sunchon National University, Suncheon, Jeonnam, 540-742, Korea

    Soo-Cheol Shin

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  1. Jeong-Yong Cho
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  2. Keun Young Park
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  3. Ki Hoon Lee
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  4. Hyoung Jae Lee
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  5. Sang-Hyun Lee
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  6. Jeong An Cho
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  7. Wol-Soo Kim
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  8. Soo-Cheol Shin
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  9. Keun-Hyung Park
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  10. Jae-Hak Moon
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Correspondence to Jae-Hak Moon.

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Cho, JY., Park, K.Y., Lee, K.H. et al. Recovery of arbutin in high purity from fruit peels of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai). Food Sci Biotechnol 20, 801–807 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-011-0111-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-011-0111-9

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