Extraction of Rutin from Flos Sophorae Immaturus with an Aqueous 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloride Solution

The study presented in this paper concerns the extractability of rutin into an aqueous 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIM-Cl) solution. The effects of the concentrations of BMIM-C1, amounts of Flos Sophorae Immaturus (FSI), extraction temperature and time on the rutin yield were examined. Under optimized extraction conditions, the rutin yield obtained by using aqueous BMIM-Cl corresponded to that obtained by using methanol. A newly established extraction method, followed by HPLC with ultraviolet detection, was applied to FSI samples with good recoveries and high repeatability.