Simultaneous extraction of carotenoids and phenolic compounds from pulps of orange and yellow peach palm fruits (Bactris gasipaes) by ultrasound-assisted extraction

Abstract

Peach palm fruits (Bactris gasipaes) are native to the Amazonia and exhibit high levels of bioactive compounds, especially carotenoids and phenolic compounds. In our study, the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) technique with different solvents [ethanol, ethyl acetate and ethanol/water (1:1, v/v)] was investigated to determine the best conditions for the simultaneous extraction of carotenoids and phenolic compounds from pulps of orange and yellow peach palm fruits to produce extracts with high bioactive compound contents. During the UAE experiments, the number of extraction and solid-liquid ratio were the variables that most affected bioactive compounds extraction (p < 0.05) and ethanol allowed the extraction of the highest carotenoid contents, while ethanol/water was the most efficient solvent to extract phenolic compounds. Through response surface methodology, ethanol/water resulted in optimal conditions at 10 extractions of 2 min each at a solid-liquid ratio of 1:12 (w/v) to extract phenolic compounds. Notwithstanding, the simultaneous extraction of carotenoids and phenolic compounds with ethanol and ethyl acetate was observed to be achieved at the same UAE conditions for both fruit varieties. Regardless the solvent, the UAE proved to be an efficient technique to carry out simultaneous extraction of high contents of carotenoids and phenolic compounds from pulps of peach palm fruits.

Keywords:
Amazonian fruit; natural products; bioactive compounds; response surface methodology