Ultrasonic assisted extraction of ursolic acid from apple pomace: A novel and facile technique

Abstract

ABSTRACTSubstantial amount of apple pomace (AP) is produced in apple processing industries and is often discarded as waste which becomes a source of polluting the environment. However, the by-product constitutes a promising bioresource of ursolic acid with various biological activities. Therefore, this particular research study was aimed to develop a novel and facile method to separate ursolic acid from AP. First, AP was extracted with ultrasound assistance using methanol as extraction solvent, 2.86% with 10:1 (mL g−1) of liquid–solid ratio, 300 W of ultrasonic power, 50°C of extraction temperature, and 90 min of ultrasonic time. Meanwhile, the disruption effect of ultrasound on AP was observed by scanning electron microscope. Second, a novel and facile method was applied to separation of ursolic acid, then a perfect colorless needle crystal of ursolic acid was obtained with the yield of about 1.34% of dry AP.