Novel protocol significantly improving spermidine content in extracts from wheat germ: Aqueous conversion of polyamines into neutral-base form, solubility in ethanol and acid precipitation as phosphate salts
2025
Eros D'Amen | Francesca Truzzi | Anne Whittaker | Giovanni Dinelli
There is an increased demand for natural spermidine (SPD) supplements, necessitating improved extraction protocols to overcome current limitations in polyamine (PA) extraction protocols from plant-based sources. The present work describes the development and underlying rationale for a five-phase laboratory-scale extraction protocol that exploits the chemical properties of SPD using a novel approach that differs from all previous water-acid methods. Phase 1: Wheat germ (WG) milling, phase 2: alkaline reaction of PAs with Ca(OH)2, phase 3: solubilization of PAs in ethanol, phase 4: ethanol-insoluble bio-compound separation by filtration, and phase 5: precipitation of PA salts using H3PO4. This protocol takes advantage of the high ethanol solubility of SPD in base form, compared to the ethanol-insoluble protonated form (SPDH+). The precipitation step permits the separation and purification of SPD from other components extracted in the natural matrix. In so doing, it was possible to attain a high SPD content extract. The average SPD content of the extract, performed on 10 separate WG 100 g batches, was 7.6 ± 1.9 %, significantly exceeding previous methods. The industrial scalability of the protocol using 50 kg WG was implemented with minimal adjustments, yielding 9.6 % SPD/extract. The proposed workable extraction, with no requirement for complex or specialized equipment, has potential towards developing SPD supplements.
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