A preparative isolation and purification of arctigenin and matairesinol from Forsythia koreana by centrifugal partition chromatography.

Centrifugal partition chromatography was applied to separate arctigenin and matairesinol from Forsythia koreana extract with a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:5:5 v/v). Using this method, arctigenin and matairesinol were successfully separated from partially purified F. koreana extracts in only one step. The purities of isolated compounds were determined to be over 90% by HPLC analysis.