Abstract
Satureja montana L. was used in the current research as the plant exhibits numerous health-promoting benefits due to its specific chemical composition. The extraction method based on deep eutectic solvents (DESs) was used for the extraction of rutin and rosmarinic acid from this plant. Five different choline chloride-based DESs with different volumes of water (10%, 30%, and 50% (v/v)) were used for the extraction at different temperatures (30, 50, and 70 °C) to investigate the influence on rosmarinic acid and rutin content obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD) in the obtained extracts. A principal component analysis was employed to explore and visualize the influence of applied parameters on the efficiency of the extraction procedure of rutin and rosmarinic acid. Among the tested DESs, choline chloride:lactic acid (mole ratio 1:2) and choline chloride:levulinic acid (mole ratio 1:2) were the most suitable for the extraction of rutin, while for rosmarinic acid choline chloride:urea (mole ratio 1:2) was the most effective solvent. The extract showing the best antiradical activity was obtained with choline chloride:urea (mole ratio 1:1) at 30 °C and 50% H2O (v/v).