Abstract
In this work, the optimization of two extraction methods, conventional CE and ultrasound-assisted UAE, to obtain extracts from cornelian cherry fruit with high antioxidant activity, which can be used to produce healthier jelly candies, is presented. In the CE process, the effects of temperature (30–50 °C), time (15–45 min), and hydroalcoholic mixtures (60–100% ethanol, v/v) were studied. The highest antioxidant activity (29.83 ± 0.85 mg TE/g dw) was found in the extracts obtained using 60% ethanol at 40 °C for 15 min. The UAE process led to comparable values of 26.60 ± 0.53 mg TE/g dw at 40% amplitude and pulsed sonication (5 s on and 5 s off) for 12.5 min. Under these experimental conditions, the specific energy consumed was 1.91 kJ/g. The vitamin C content and its inhibitory activity against metabolic enzymes were evaluated in extracts with different antioxidant activity. A significant inhibitory effect against carbohydrate-metabolism-associated enzymes was identified for all the tested extracts, with an inhibitory effect against α-glucosidase higher than 75%, but with a lower effect against α-amylase. The extract obtained by CE (60% ethanol, 40 °C, 15 min) provided the highest vitamin C content of 39.9 ± 1.2 mg ascorbic acid/100 g dw. Four variants of the healthier jelly candies were formulated, with a vitamin C content of 0.34 mg ascorbic acid/100 g dw in samples with agar-agar and 0.70 mg ascorbic acid/100 g dw in samples with gelatin.
Highlights
Studies aiming at the valorization of plants as sources of innovative natural products and/or molecules for developing innovative targeted delivery systems and ingredients and/or nutraceuticals are re-emerging [1]
The three-factor, three-level Box–Behnken design (BBD) with three responses in the central point was applied in order to study the effects of different extraction parameters on the Total Polyphenol Content (TPC), the Total Flavonoid Content (TFC), and the Total Antioxidant Activity (TAA) of the cornelian cherry extracts
Increasing the extraction time up to 30 min, at the temperature of 30 ◦C, allowed us to obtain the highest concentration of TFC (1.61 ± 0.01 mg QE/g dw), but a lower value of TPC (27.62 ± 0.36 mg GAE/g dw), approximatively 6% lower than the value obtained after 15 min of extraction at 40 ◦C
Summary
Studies aiming at the valorization of plants as sources of innovative natural products and/or molecules for developing innovative targeted delivery systems and ingredients and/or nutraceuticals are re-emerging [1]. Many of the reports on the positive effects of bioactive compounds lead to the desirability of utilizing plant sources in different forms for human health. The cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) is found mainly in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe; it is a rich source of bioactives and is known for its strong antioxidant effects due to the content of more than one hundred compounds grouped into the following categories: polyphenols (phenolic acids and flavonoids such as anthocyanins [2]), monoterpenoids, triterpenoids, carotenoids, vitamins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, hydrocarbons, minerals, and pectin [3,4]. The benefits of the cornelian cherry for human health are related to the cardiovascular, endocrine, immunity, gastrointestinal systems [6], anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anticancer, radioprotective, neuroprotective, the protection of the reproductive organs [3,6] and against nocturnal urinary incontinence for the children [7]. The hypertriglyceridemia and atherosclerosis effects were tested on rats and rabbits [8,9]
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