Bioactive Profiling and Multi-Response Optimization of Ultrasound-Assisted Phenolic Extraction from Panta Pear (Pyrus caucasia) Fractions

Pyrus caucasia (Panta pear), a traditional fruit cultivated in Şavşat (Artvin, Türkiye), remains poorly characterized in terms of its bioactive potential and process-driven valorization routes. This study profiled peel, pulp, and seed fractions and developed a process-oriented optimization strategy for ultrasound-assisted extraction (40 kHz) of phenolics using a Taguchi L9 (3 4 ) design followed by quadratic regression and desirability-based multi-response optimization. Fraction-specific differences in phenolic accumulation were evident across the optimized extracts. The peel fraction exhibited the highest total phenolic content (376.48 mg GAE/mL), followed by pulp (220.28 mg GAE/mL) and seed (145.19 mg GAE/mL), indicating efficient phenolic enrichment through controlled processing conditions. This gradient was reflected in antioxidant performance, as extracts with higher phenolic density showed increased FRAP values and lower DPPH and ABTS IC₅₀ values. Notably, ascorbic acid levels were comparably high in both peel and pulp (1.32–1.34 mg/g FW), pointing to a genotype characterized by elevated vitamin C content. In parallel, the optimized extracts demonstrated marked antimicrobial activity against major foodborne pathogens, with the peel fraction showing particularly strong inhibition, especially toward Gram-positive bacteria. This study highlights ultrasound-assisted extraction combined with statistical optimization as an effective and transferable approach for designing plant-based extraction processes with enhanced functional outputs.