Abstract
The effects of various pulsed electric field (PEF) parameters on the extraction of polyacetylenes from carrot slices were investigated. Optimised conditions with regard to electric field strength (1–4 kV/cm), number of pulses (100–1500), pulse frequency (10–200 Hz) and pulse width (10–30 μs) were identified using response surface methodology (RSM) to maximise the extraction of falcarinol (FaOH), falcarindiol (FaDOH) and falcarindiol-3-acetate (FaDOAc) from carrot slices. Data obtained from RSM and experiments fitted significantly (p < 0.0001) the proposed second-order response functions with high regression coefficients (R2) ranging from 0.82 to 0.75. Maximal FaOH (188%), FaDOH (164.9%) and FaDOAc (166.8%) levels relative to untreated samples were obtained from carrot slices after applying PEF treatments at 4 kV/cm with 100 number of pulses of 10 μs at 10 Hz. The predicted values from the developed quadratic polynomial equation were in close agreement with the actual experimental values with low average mean deviations (E%) ranging from 0.68% to 3.58%.
Highlights
The presence of falcarinol-type polyacetylenes in carrots has attracted considerable interest in recent times due to their potential beneficial effects for the human health [1]
Studies on carrots have shown that FaOH levels extracted could vary from 20 to 359 μg/g depending on carrot cultivar [8,18,19,20]
Values of FaDOH and FaDOAc were in the range reported by Rawson et al [9] in fresh peeled carrot
Summary
The presence of falcarinol-type polyacetylenes in carrots has attracted considerable interest in recent times due to their potential beneficial effects for the human health [1]. Falcarinol (FaOH) is the most biologically active compound of three main polyacetylenes present in carrots with pronounced cytotoxic activity against several cancer lines [2]. Falcarindiol (FaDOH) possesses cytotoxic [1,3,4] and anti-mutagenic [5] activity in vitro, it appears to be less bioactive than FaOH. FaDOH is an effective inhibitor of cyclooxygenases (COX), in particular COX-1, whereas the anti-COX activity of FaOH does not seem to be pronounced [6,7]. Very little has been reported regarding its function, it is always found present with other falcarinol type polyacetylenes in plants, and may exhibit some synergistic anti-fungal effects in plant [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
