Nutrition and Food Science International Journal

Optimizing the Extraction of Procyanidins Oligomers through Decamer

Author: Alyson E Mitchell*, Danielle Robertson and Eunmi Koh

Published: December 14, 2017

DOI: 10.19080/NFSIJ.2017.04.555636

Abstract Content: The extraction of procyanidins from a food is influenced by food matrix, extraction solvent, sample particle size, sample to solvent ratio, as well as other factors. Many of these parameters can easily be controlled in a laboratory to improve or target the extraction of low or high molecular weight oligomers. As various oligomers have differing biological and functional qualities, preferred extraction of one group of oligomers may be a desired target. In the following study, we describe the influence of solvent polarity and composition, solvent-solute ratio and particle size on the extraction of procyanidin oligomers monomer through decamer. The solvents evaluated included dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), acetone and methanol. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and a diol-stationary phase were used to qualitatively compare extraction efficiencies of the procyanidin oligomers. Results indicate that optimal extraction conditions for total procyanidins were achieved using 70-80% DMSO; a solute-solvent ratio of 3g to 15mL of solvent and a particle size <0.99mm. Although 70-80% DMSO results in the highest total concentrations of procyanidin oligomers extracted, several characteristics of using DMSO make using 70% acetone a highly efficient, perfectly suitable substitute.