An Optimised Recovery of Mitragynine from Mitragyna Speciosa using Freeze Drying and Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction Method

Mitragynine isolated from Mitragynaspeciosa, has been a subject of interest of late due to its analgesic properties and potential use in opioid drug replacement therapy. To further explore its therapeutic potential, large quantity of mitragynine is required. However, there is limited data on the influence of extraction strategies on the extraction efficiency of mitragynine, which is important to increase mitragynine production. The present study aims to develop an ultrasonic-assisted extraction method to increase the extraction efficiency and recovery of mitragynine from the host plant. By carefully optimising the pH and extraction temperature of the choice solvent,combined with the appropriate sample preparation technique, a substantial increase in the recovery ofmitragynine was observed.The present study concluded that the optimum condition for the extraction of mitragynine should couple the freeze-drying technique with the ultrasonic-assisted extraction procedure that uses the solvent combination of CHCl3: MeOH 1:4 (v/v) at pH 9.5, at 60 °C. The identity and amount of mitragynine recovered from the leaves were determined by means of a hyphenated gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) system.