Abstract: The ultrasonic-assisted solvent method was applied to extract of total saponins from cinnamon. Regarding the content of total saponins in cinnamon as the index of investigation, the factors such as the ultrasonic temperature, ultrasonic power and ultrasonic time as affecting the content of total saponins were studied. The L9(34) orthogonal array was adopted to the experiment. According to the results of orthogonal experimental design, the optimum extracting conditions of total saponins in cinnamon are as follows: ultrasonic temperature 60 ℃, ultrasonic power70 %, ultrasonic time 40 min with of the total cinnamon saponins content 4.393%, but according to the common solvent method the content of total saponins was 3.407% only. Hence the extracting effect of ultrasonic assisted solvent method is more effective and the extracting time is also shortened.

Key words: cinnamon, saponin, ultrasonic, extraction