Ultrasound-negative pressure cavitation extraction of paclitaxel from Taxus chinensis

An ultrasound-negative pressure cavitation extraction method was developed to remarkably improve the recovery efficiency of paclitaxel from Taxus chinensis. The paclitaxel yield was 94–100% through ultrasound-negative pressure cavitation extraction with an extraction time of 3 to 8 min. In particular, most paclitaxel could be recovered within 3 min of extraction at ultrasonic power of 380 W/negative pressure of −260 mmHg. Observation of the biomass surface with SEM before and after extraction showed that as the ultrasonic power and negative pressure increased, the surface was more disrupted. In addition, a pseudo-second order model was suitable for the kinetic analysis, and intraparticle diffusion played a dominant role in the overall extraction rate according to the intraparticle diffusion model. As the ultrasonic power and negative pressure increased, the extraction rate constant (6.8816–11.6105 mL/mg·min), the effective diffusion coefficient (1.550×10 −12 –11.528×10 −12 m 2 /s), and the mass transfer coefficient (2.222×10 −7 –5.149×10 −7 m/s) increased.