Analysis of enzymatic extraction of saponin by experiment design methodology

Abstract

Sapindus mukorossi (soapberry) is widely distributed in Taiwan, India, China and Japan. Its fruit contain saponin, which consist of two main part, the aglycone (sapogenin) and the polysaccharides (sugar moiety) which connected through glyosidic linkage. It has many pharmacological properties such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, etc. Thus, this plant become one of high added value bioresources for pharmaceutical field. There are many methods to extract saponin. In this experiment, enzyme extraction is used to extract the saponin that known as high efficiency and specify method. Then, we analyzed its by-product, total polysaccharides content and its antioxidant properties through total polyphenol content. With Response Surface Methodology (RSM), we obtained the optimum condition for the best total saponin, total polysaccharides content, and total polyphenol content. Based on RSM analyses, with solid-liquid ratio of 1:5, extraction time of 3 hours, and enzyme concentration of 0.55%, we obtained the total saponin is 115.794 mg/mL, the total polysaccharides is 155.3 mg/mL and total polyphenol content is 1.309 mg/ml.