Microwave‐Assisted Extraction of Terminalia bellerica Seed Oil: Comparative Optimization Using Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Networks With Physicochemical and Compositional Characterization

This study optimized the microwave‐assisted extraction (MAE) process for Terminalia bellerica seed oil and evaluated its physicochemical and compositional characteristics. The influence of microwave power (300–600 W), treatment time (30–90 s), and solvent‐to‐sample ratio (10–20 mL/g) on oil yield were investigated. The extraction process was optimized using response surface methodology with desirability function (RSM‐DF) and artificial neural network coupled with genetic algorithm (ANN‐GA). The extracted oil was characterized based on physicochemical properties, antioxidant activity, color, FTIR‐ATR, and GC–MS analyses. The RSM‐DF demonstrated superior accuracy ( R 2 = 0.9975, RMSE = 0.1040) compared to the ANN model. The experimental validation confirmed the maximum oil recovery of 34.33% ± 0.873% under optimal RSM‐DF conditions (470.77 W, 59.01 s, and 19.47 mL/g). Similarly, the ANN‐GA showed a yield of 34.28% ± 0.584%, at 599.9 W, 30.00 s, and 20.00 mL/g. Physicochemical analysis indicated acceptable oil quality, with an acid value, peroxide value, saponification value, free fatty acid, iodine value, density, and specific gravity were 2.255 ± 0.470 mg KOH/g, 9.765 ± 0.177 meq O 2 /kg, 102.41 ± 3.06 mg KOH/g oil, 1.33% ± 0.238% oleic acid, 82.29 ± 1.157 g I 2 /100g oil, 0.942 g/cm 3 , and 0.942 ± 0.006, respectively. Total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and DPPH radical scavenging activity were 34.48 ± 0.85 mg GAE/g, 64.5 ± 1.25 mg QE/g and 31.95% ± 0.68%, respectively. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)–ATR was employed to identify the key functional groups within the 1800–400 cm −1 . Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) identified major fatty acids such as palmitic and oleic acids. The relatively low degree of unsaturation suggests potential industrial applications. The findings of this study are expected to provide a robust insight into creating commercial markets and scaling up the industrial production, and further application studies of T. bellerica seed oil.