Preparative isolation and purification of germacrone and curdione from the essential oil of the rhizomes of Curcuma wenyujin by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was applied to isolate and purify bioactive compounds in the essential oil of the rhizomes of Curcuma wenyujin. Two sesquiterpenes germacrone and curdione were successfully isolated and purified using two-phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether-ethanol-diethyl ether-water (5/4/0.5/1, v/v) in tail to head elution mode. 62 mg of germacrone and 93 mg of curdione were obtained from 658 mg of the essential oil each at over 95% purity. Their structures were identified by 1H NMR and EI MS.