Design of experiment for optimization of phenolic lipids extraction from the cashew nutshell

The Anacardium occidentale , commonly known as the cashew tree, generates a large amount of agro-waste in the form of cashew nutshells. The nutshell is rich in phenolic lipids, which find applications in many therapeutic and polymer industries. Currently, there is a gap in the sustainable utilization of this resource, specifically in optimizing extraction conditions using statistical modeling. Therefore, this study aims to develop an optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction method for phenolic lipids using a Box-Behnken design within the response surface methodology. The experimental results and modeling showed that solvent volume and temperature significantly influence the response outcome, and optimal levels of these input variables are necessary to balance yield and content of four major phenolic lipids. The model was then validated, with the optimal conditions identified as a solvent volume of 24 ml (X 1 ), a temperature of 35 °C (X 2 ), and a duration of 13 min (X 3 ). The findings establish the potential of the optimized extraction process to achieve desired yields and phenolic lipid contents. This approach, utilizing response surface methodology, led to an improved model fit and prediction accuracy.