Hydrothermal deglycosylation and deconstruction effect of steam explosion: application to high-valued glycyrrhizic acid derivatives from liquorice

Abstract In this work, steam explosion (SE) was exploited as a green and facile process to deconstruct liquorice’s structure and deglycosylate glycyrrhizic acid (GL) to improve conversion and diffusion efficacy of GL and its hydrolyzed products. Results showed SE induced auto-hydrolysis of GL into glycyrrhetic acid 3-O-mono-β-D-glucuronide (GAMG) and glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), by which 30.71% of GL conversion, 5.24% and 21.47% of GAMG and GA formation were obtained. GL hydrolytic pathways were revealed by reaction kinetics and thermodynamics, which possessed complex consecutive and parallel reactions with endothermic, non-spontaneous and entropy-decreasing features. SE referred to cause cleavage of the β-1,3 glycosidic bond in GL which was hydrolyzed to GA as a main product and GAMG and glucuronic acids as minor products. Diffusion of hydrolyzed products was accelerated by raising the diffusion coefficient and shortening equilibrium time by more than 90%. This work provides a sustainable and efficient route for product conversion and function enhancement of bioactive components.