THE EFFECT OF GRANULE SIZE OF THE RAW MATERIAL AND THE SOLVENT CONCENTRATION ON THE EXTRACTION OF HERBA SIDERITIS SCARDICA IN MOUNTAIN SHARR

Sideritis Scardica belongs to the group of herbal raw plant materials found in the mountains, mainly in Balkan countries such as Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, the northern part of Turkey, and some parts of North Russia. It is characterized by dense leaves attached directly to the main stem. It has been known as a pharmaceutical plant since ancient times it was used in preparing various teas, without knowing the miraculous features of this plant. In recent years, the raw plant material Sideritis Scardica has been increasingly used in pharmaceutics in preparing standardised extracts, which have multiple effects due to its composition. It is not that simple to get an extract of Sideritis Scardica, it requires adequate adjustment of extraction parameters as well as choosing an adequate extraction method. Within the extraction parameters, despite the extraction method that is chosen, a very important role has the grinding level and the type of solvent for extraction, as well as the concentration of the solvent to get a higher extraction coefficient, and the ratio of the raw material used to the obtained extract should be as low as possible. The extraction parameters must be adjusted in the way that the extraction process is realized till the end, and take out the main substances that are present in the raw material, hindering the extraction of unwanted constituent substances.