Abstract
Moringa oleifera L. leaves are a plant tissue particularly rich in polyphenolic phytochemicals with significant bioactivities, and there has been significant recent interest for the production of extracts enriched in these substances. The current investigation is aimed at establishing a green extraction process, using a novel eco-friendly natural deep eutectic solvent, composed of glycerol and nicotinamide. Furthermore, sample ultrasonication prior to batch stirred-tank extraction was studied to examine its usefulness as a pretreatment step. Optimization of the extraction process through response surface methodology showed that the maximum total polyphenol yield (82.87 ± 4.28 mg gallic acid equivalents g−1 dry mass) could be achieved after a 30 min ultrasonication pretreatment, but the difference with the yield obtained from the non-pretreated sample was statistically non-significant (p < 0.05). Extraction kinetics revealed that the activation energy for the ultrasonication-pretreated samples was more energy-demanding, a fact attributed to phenomena pertaining to washing of the readily extracted polyphenols during pretreatment. Liquid-chromatography-diode array-mass spectrometry showed that ultrasonication pretreatment may have a limited positive effect on polyphenol extractability, but the overall polyphenolic profile was identical for the ultrasonication-pretreated and non-pretreated samples.
Highlights
Moringa oleifera Lam. is a cruciferous plant of the Moringaceae family, often called drumstick tree.M. oleifera is a popular staple in several parts around the globe, and it is consumed for its high nutritional value, as its leaves are rich in β-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, polyphenols, etc. [1,2]
The extraction of M. oleifera leaf polyphenols with a novel, glycerol/nicotinamide deep eutectic solvents (DES) was performed by deploying an ultrasonication pretreatment step
The optimization through response surface methodology revealed that when samples were ultrasonication-pretreated, the subsequent batch stirred-tank extraction required less amount of DES and much lower stirring speed for maximum polyphenol yield, and a higher amount of solvent per dry mass unit
Summary
Moringa oleifera Lam. is a cruciferous plant of the Moringaceae family, often called drumstick tree.M. oleifera is a popular staple in several parts around the globe, and it is consumed for its high nutritional value, as its leaves are rich in β-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, polyphenols, etc. [1,2]. Moringa oleifera Lam. is a cruciferous plant of the Moringaceae family, often called drumstick tree. M. oleifera is a popular staple in several parts around the globe, and it is consumed for its high nutritional value, as its leaves are rich in β-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, polyphenols, etc. M. oleifera has been reported to display a broad range of biological functions, such as neuroprotective activity, chemopreventive properties, anti-inflammatory potency, and hepatoprotective activity. As a number of studies have provided strong evidence regarding the therapeutic value of M. oleifera for diseases like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, etc., this plant has attracted significant attention for its pharmacological functions [3]. The pharmacological potency of M. oleifera may be closely associated with its polyphenolic composition, which includes a wide range of structures, represented mainly by flavonoids.
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