Novel protocol significantly improving spermidine content in extracts from wheat germ: Aqueous conversion of polyamines into neutral-base form, solubility in ethanol and acid precipitation as phosphate salts

Food chemistry advances Pub Date : 2025-02-11 DOI:10.1016/j.focha.2025.100921

Eros D'Amen, Francesca Truzzi, Anne Whittaker, Giovanni Dinelli

{"title":"Novel protocol significantly improving spermidine content in extracts from wheat germ: Aqueous conversion of polyamines into neutral-base form, solubility in ethanol and acid precipitation as phosphate salts","authors":"Eros D'Amen, Francesca Truzzi, Anne Whittaker, Giovanni Dinelli","doi":"10.1016/j.focha.2025.100921","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is an increased demand for natural spermidine (SPD) supplements, necessitating improved extraction protocols to overcome current limitations in polyamine (PA) extraction protocols from plant-based sources. The present work describes the development and underlying rationale for a five-phase laboratory-scale extraction protocol that exploits the chemical properties of SPD using a novel approach that differs from all previous water-acid methods. Phase 1: Wheat germ (WG) milling, phase 2: alkaline reaction of PAs with Ca(OH)<sub>2</sub>, phase 3: solubilization of PAs in ethanol, phase 4: ethanol-insoluble bio-compound separation by filtration, and phase 5: precipitation of PA salts using H<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub>. This protocol takes advantage of the high ethanol solubility of SPD in base form, compared to the ethanol-insoluble protonated form (SPDH+). The precipitation step permits the separation and purification of SPD from other components extracted in the natural matrix. In so doing, it was possible to attain a high SPD content extract. The average SPD content of the extract, performed on 10 separate WG 100 g batches, was 7.6 ± 1.9 %, significantly exceeding previous methods. The industrial scalability of the protocol using 50 kg WG was implemented with minimal adjustments, yielding 9.6 % SPD/extract. The proposed workable extraction, with no requirement for complex or specialized equipment, has potential towards developing SPD supplements.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73040,"journal":{"name":"Food chemistry advances","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100921"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Food chemistry advances","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772753X25000371","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

There is an increased demand for natural spermidine (SPD) supplements, necessitating improved extraction protocols to overcome current limitations in polyamine (PA) extraction protocols from plant-based sources. The present work describes the development and underlying rationale for a five-phase laboratory-scale extraction protocol that exploits the chemical properties of SPD using a novel approach that differs from all previous water-acid methods. Phase 1: Wheat germ (WG) milling, phase 2: alkaline reaction of PAs with Ca(OH)₂, phase 3: solubilization of PAs in ethanol, phase 4: ethanol-insoluble bio-compound separation by filtration, and phase 5: precipitation of PA salts using H₃PO₄. This protocol takes advantage of the high ethanol solubility of SPD in base form, compared to the ethanol-insoluble protonated form (SPDH+). The precipitation step permits the separation and purification of SPD from other components extracted in the natural matrix. In so doing, it was possible to attain a high SPD content extract. The average SPD content of the extract, performed on 10 separate WG 100 g batches, was 7.6 ± 1.9 %, significantly exceeding previous methods. The industrial scalability of the protocol using 50 kg WG was implemented with minimal adjustments, yielding 9.6 % SPD/extract. The proposed workable extraction, with no requirement for complex or specialized equipment, has potential towards developing SPD supplements.

Abstract Image