The effects of experimental conditions on extraction of polyphenols from African Nutmeg peels using NADESs-UAE: A Multifactorial Modelling Technique

The extraction of polyphenolic compounds from African nutmeg peels via MFAT using NADESs-UAE was investigated to develop sustainable separation to recover natural antioxidants from food waste biomass. In this study, citric acid-based DESs paired with sucrose, fructose, xylitol, glycerol, glycine, and glucose were explored as potential extractants to evaluate the effects of solvent structure on extraction efficiency. Furthermore, the effects of different operating conditions were evaluated comprehensively to determine the parameters necessary for antioxidant recovery in terms of TPC and TFC, and antiradical scavenging activity based on CUPRAC and FRAP methods. The conditions that gave the highest values of 908.17 mg GAE/g DW, 1431.51 µg QE/g DW, 11.5568 µMTE/g DW, and 14.7903 µMTE/g DW for TPC, TFC, CUPRAC, and FRAP are shown in Figures 2D, 3B, 5B, and 6D respectively using CaFr12, CaGc11, CaFr11, CaXy11 as solvents respectively. These results underscore the potential of using specific NADES formulations to tailor the extraction process for desired antioxidant and antiradical scavenging properties. The findings give insights to the capacity of NADESs as powerful solvents for extraction applications. The lack of literature on extraction of bioactive compounds from African nutmeg materials using DESs with ultrasound techniques proves the originality of the present work.