Natural Flavonoids as Superior Reagents for Separation of Clinically Important Zr Radionuclides

This paper exploits the affinity of bio-flavonoid hesperidin, isolated from orangepeel, towards the separation of clinically important 88Zr radionuclide from high energy proton bombarded yttrium target. The extraction of Zr with hesperidin was studied by solid-liquid extraction (SLX) technique over a wide pH range. The advantage of hesperidin is that it acts as separating agent as well as free-radical scavenging agent upon injection of the radionuclidehesperidin complex in-vivo. The stability of isolated hesperidin under strong radiation field was also studied. The selectivity of the bio-flavonoid towards 88Zr was maximum at pH=4 where in >78% Zr was extracted with <1% contamination from bulk yttrium target.