Compositions comprising shikimic acid obtained from oil palm-based materials

Abstract

The present invention provides compositions and method for production of shikimic acid based on extracts obtained from oil palm-based materials, and more particularly oil palm-based waste materials and by-products. The method includes purifying shikimic acid from extracts comprising oil palm phenolics (OPP).

Claims

1. A composition containing shikimic acid, wherein said shikimic acid is obtained from extracts of oil palm or oil palm-based materials.

2. A composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extracts comprise of oil palm phenolics (OPP).

3. A composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shikimic acid is obtained from palm oil mill effluent (POME).

4. A composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shikimic acid is obtained from palm oil vegetation liquor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) FIG. 1 shows the HPLC profile (top) and Voyager (bottom) for shikimic acid of a sample Oil Palm Phenolics (OPP) extract obtained based on an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(2) In line with the above summary, the disclosed description and examples relates to a composition comprising shikimic acid and method of producing the said shikimic acid based on oil palm-based materials. It shall be apparent however to one skilled in the art that the exemplifications are provided to better elucidate the embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection.

(3) As briefly described earlier, during oil palm fruit processing, the extraction of palm oil generates a waste stream of vegetation liquor, which is thereby considered as an aqueous phase of the milling process prior to being discarded as palm oil mill effluent (POME) and solid wastes.

(4) In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for producing shikimic acid comprises the steps of obtaining extracts from oil palm-based materials is disclosed. Suitably, it should be noted that oil palm based materials including vegetation liquors, any oil palm by products, palm oil milling wastes materials, oil palm based waste materials (liquid and solid), materials from oil palm based industries, any ancillary oil palm vegetative matters, any part of the oil palm tree for instance but not limiting to the stem, pulp, seed, trunk, fruitlet, fruitbunch, frond, any part of the oil palm fruit and other oil palm based materials and sources not name explicitly herein.

(5) The method further includes the step of obtaining extracts from oil palm-based materials preferably without using solvents.

(6) In one embodiment of the present invention, the method may include the step of obtaining water soluble, and enriched with phenolic compounds, extracts from oil palm-based materials.

(7) In accordance with the present invention, the step of obtaining extracts from oil palm-based materials may be performed based on conventional separation principles. It should be noted that however the method involved for extraction is solvent-free.

(8) According to the present invention, the method may further includes the step of obtaining water soluble, antioxidant rich extracts known as oil palm phenolics (OPP) from oil palm based materials including vegetation liquors, any oil palm by products, palm oil milling wastes materials, materials from oil palm based industries, any ancillary oil palm vegetative matters, any part of the oil palm tree for instance but not limiting to the stem, pulp, seed, trunk, fruitlet, fruitbunch, frond, any part of the oil palm fruit and other oil palm based materials and sources not name explicitly herein.

(9) Based on another embodiment of the present invention, the extracts may be obtained from materials used or generated from oil palm-based industries.

(10) In another embodiment of the present invention, the extraction of the oil palm phenolics (OPP) as briefly described above in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention may involve the steps of providing three-phase decanter system, and preferably a plurality of separation stages using different types of membranes suitably adapted to separate residual oil, ionic contaminants and components of high molecular weight, thereby obtaining oil palm phenolics (OPP).

(11) As an example, oil palm phenolics (OPP) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention can be obtained from palm oil mill effluent (POME). Generally, palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a thick brownish liquid that contains approximately 4% solids by dry weight. POME can be a source of nutrient content (Zakaria et. al) upon treated to reduce the organic load (Ma et al.). Conventionally, the treated POME may be recycled to the field. In one embodiment of the present invention, shikimic acid is purified from said oil palm phenolics (OPP).

(12) According to the present invention, the method further includes the step of extraction or purifying shikimic acid from the oil palm-based materials extracts.

(13) In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, preparation of the extracts, oil palm or parts of oil palm may be treated with glyphosate, a compound typically used in eliminating unwanted plants especially weeds, so as to increase levels or obtain high yield of shikimic acid. It is observed that glyphosate inhibits the enzyme EPSP synthase, thus condenses shikimate-3-phosphate and phosphore-enol-pyruvate to form 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate, a precursor of chorismate. It is understood that the dose of glyphosate is suitably controlled to as to allow maximum yield of shikimic acid.

(14) It is understood that the extracts from oil palm-based materials or OPP extracts can be scaled up to accommodate larger or more substantial extraction batch sizes desired.

(15) In order to determine the radical scavenging activity of the OPP prepared for the purpose of the present invention, standard procedures may be carried out. Such may include, but not limiting to, conducting Flash Chromatography or High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) on the OPP extracts. Results showing the compounds are obtained and presented in chromatograms. A free radical scavenging activity based on the plotted graph of obtained fractions and absorbance may be provided.

(16) As an example, HPLC was carried out on a sample of OPP extracts. Results obtained to show the presence and HPLC profile of shikimic acid are as shown in FIG. 1.

(17) In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the determination of elements within the extracts can be carried out using various standard procedures, for instance, but not limiting to, mass spectroscopy.

(18) A Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis may further be carried out to confirm such purification.

(19) In an embodiment of the present invention, extraction and purification of shikimic acid from OPP may be conducted based on standard purification methods. Suitably, it is understood that the extract and purification can be scaled up to accommodate larger or more substantial extraction batch sizes desired.

(20) According to the present invention, the yield of shikimic acid obtained from OPP is approximately 1% of the dry weight. It is expected that the amount may increase if plant is treated with glyphosate prior to extracting the OPP.

(21) An example of estimates of the amount of palm oil mill effluent (POME) may be required for production of shikimic acid at different extraction efficiencies are as depicted in TABLE 1 below:

(22) TABLE-US-00001 50% market 100% market 10% market demand = demand = 1 kg demand = 5,200 Kg 26,000 Kg 52,000 Kg 0.1% Shikimic 25 tons 132,000 tons 660,270 tons 1,320,000 tons acid yield form dry mass 0.5% Shikimic 5 tons 26,4000 tons 132,000 tons 264,000 tons acid yield from dry mass 1% Shikimic acid 2.5 tons 13,200 tons 66,000 tons 132,000 tons yield from dry mass

(23) Apart from being the primary building block in the production of Tamiflu, shikimic acid has been reported based on various recent studies, to provide other various health related benefits.

(24) Shikimic acid obtained based on the present invention may be used as an immunomodulatory agent. As an example, in an in-vitro model, incubation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with shikimic acid in combination with the polyphenol quercetin led to an increase in the release of chemokines IL-8 and IL-6, whereby these chemokines play a major role in recruiting and activating lymphocytes for the innate immunity system. Such discovery therefore demonstrates that shikimic acid and quercetin from dietary may enhance the innate immunity system, which would be beneficial for combating viral infections (Bertelli et al.).

(25) In accordance with the present invention, the shikimic acid obtained may be used in the treatment for hair loss. As an example, an experiment was conducted and water-soluble extracts containing shikimic acid obtained from Illicium anisatum (aniseed) has been reported to be able to aid in increasing subcutaneous blood flow and in mice and thus stimulate the elongation of mouse follicles in culture (Sakaguchi et al.).

(26) Further in accordance to the present invention, the OPP extracts containing shikimic acid obtained from oil palm-based materials may be used to make, or are contained in but not limiting to, drinks, edible products, health supplements, antioxidant additives, cosmeceutical products or medicinal products.

(27) From the foregoing it is disclosed that oil palm-based materials can be considered as the most abundant and inexpensive source for shikimic acid. It is estimated that 46 million tons of palm oil mill effluent (POME) can be produced yearly.

(28) It is understood by a person skilled in the art that the methods for experiments and studies are described as exemplifications herein and thus the results are not intended, however, to limit or restrict the scope of the invention in any way and should not be construed as providing conditions, parameters, agents or starting materials which must be utilized exclusively in order to practice the present invention. It is therefore understood that the invention may be practiced, within the scope of the appended claims, with equivalent methods for the experiments than as specifically described and stated in claims.