Evaluación de métodos de extracción para la obtención del ácido giberélico en semillas germinadas de maíz (Zea mays L.)

Corn ( Zea mays  L.) is the second most cultivated cereal in the world and is use as raw material for different kind of industries. To date no reports about obtaining giberellic acid (GA 3 ) from corn have been found. In the present study two methods for extracting solid samples were evaluated: lixiviation and dynamic sonication-assisted solvent extraction (DSASE), for obtaining giberellic acid from corn germinated seeds. In lixiviation, the physical method (agitation and sonication), solvent, and time were the parameters analyzed; while in DSASE the variables were: solvent, flow, and time. The most efficient technique was DSASE employing acetonitrile-formic acid 5% (80:20, v:v ) as solvent at a flow of 0.4 mL/min for 25,0 min, obtaining a concentration 30.012 mg/kg giberellic acid. The identification and quantification were performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detector (DAD). These results showed that dynamic sonication-assisted solvent extraction (DSASE) is a novel and powerful alternative technique for obtaining giberellic acid, because of its high efficiency; low solvent consumption and simplicity in obtaining the extract.