Preparative isolation of triterpenoids from Ganoderma lucidum by counter-current chromatography combined with pH-zone-refining

Ganoderma lucidum is a famous fungus. The triterpenoids are the main bioactive components and exhibit various pharmacological activities. However, the scarcity of the pure triterpenoid has greatly restrained the modern research of G. lucidum. The present paper first describes a convenient method to separate the main triterpenoids from G. lucidum using counter-current chromatography (CCC) technique. Ganoderic acid C6 (38 mg), E (76 mg), F (32 mg) were successfully separated from the crude extract in 1 day with the HPLC purity of above 90% using stepwise CCC. Ganoderic acid G (36 mg), A (64 mg), B (25 mg), D (28 mg) and ganoderenic acid D (11 mg) were separated in 2 days with the HPLC purity of above 90% using a combination of stepwise CCC and pH-zone-refining CCC. The method presented in the paper is much quicker and easier than the previous methods.