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- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received August 20, 2025
Revised November 26, 2025
Accepted December 9, 2025
Available online March 25, 2026
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Effi cient Extraction of Ursolic Acid from Natural Materials Using Alcohol-based DES Solvents
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-025-00625-8
Abstract
To enable the effi cient extraction of ursolic acid, a non-polar bioactive compound, the applicability of alcohol-based deep
eutectic solvents (DESs) was investigated. A series of DESs were prepared by combining a fi xed hydrogen bond acceptor,
choline chloride (ChCl), with various hydrogen bond donors (HBDs) such as glycerol, ethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol,
1,2-propylene glycol, and 1,4-butanediol at diff erent molar ratios. To evaluate their potential as green solvents, the cytotoxicity
of the alcohol-based DESs was assessed, and the 1,2-propylene glycol-based DESs exhibited the lowest cytotoxicity.
Due to the high viscosity of DESs, direct solubility measurements of ursolic acid were limited; thus, the COSMO-SAC
model was employed to predict solubility and guide the screening of suitable DESs. Computational results suggested that
DESs containing 1,2-propylene glycol and 1,4-butanediol provided superior solubility for ursolic acid. Based on both cytotoxicity
and predicted solubility, the DES composed of ChCl and 1,2-propylene glycol at a 1:4 molar ratio was identifi ed
as the most biocompatible solvent system. Using this DES, ursolic acid was successfully extracted from rosemary and
apple peel. Experimental validation confi rmed that PG-based DES (ChCl:1,2-propylene glycol = 1:4) exhibited a solubility
70% lower for ursolic acid than pure ethanol. This study supports a strategic shift toward sustainable extraction technologies
using DESs and provides a foundation for future research on their industrial applicability.

