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Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Fulvic Acid from a Solid Dosage Form: a Statistical Approach

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Abstract

Purpose

Fulvic acid is a polymer that acts as a carrier to a number of drugs by its great complexing ability, thereby augmenting their bioavailability. Conventional procedure of extraction is available, but it involves long extraction times and a number of rudimentary steps. The purpose of this study was to overcome this issue.

Methods

The extraction of fulvic acid was carried out from a solid dosage form using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique, and the effects of variables were studied on its percentage yield by using a “4-Factorial 2-Level statistical model.” Fulvic acid so obtained was characterized for physicochemical properties, spectroscopic analyses, and elemental composition to access its integrity.

Results

The process was statistically optimized with 4-Factorial 2-Level model with 16 runs. The maximum yield of 45.5 mg/g was obtained on levels, viz., temperature (75 °C), time (5 min), number of repeated extractions (1), and solid/liquid ratio (1:4), whereas the predicted yield under similar conditions was found to be 44.5 mg/g and this verified our experimental results statistically.

Conclusions

MAE can be considered as a new and fast method of extraction for many natural substances including fulvic acid.

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Acknowledgments

S. Javed wishes to thank the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India for the financial assistance in the form of Senior Research Fellowship. The authors are thankful to Central Instrumentation Facility, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi for providing different instrument facilities.

Conflict of Interest

Authors declare no conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hamdard University, New Delhi, India

    Shamama Javed, Kanchan Kohli & Mushir Ali

Authors
  1. Shamama Javed
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  2. Kanchan Kohli
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  3. Mushir Ali
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Correspondence to Kanchan Kohli.

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Javed, S., Kohli, K. & Ali, M. Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Fulvic Acid from a Solid Dosage Form: a Statistical Approach. J Pharm Innov 8, 175–186 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12247-013-9157-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12247-013-9157-y

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