Comparison of conventional and ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolics-rich heteroxylans from wheat bran

Various two-step extraction procedures with and without a short application of ultrasound in the first step at various reaction conditions (extracting agent, temperature and time), and constant conditions in the second step (5% NaOH, room temperature, 60 min) were used to isolate the hemicellulose component of industrial wheat bran. The polysaccharides recovered from the extracts were characterised by yield, chemical composition and radical scavenging activity. Similar total yields of polysaccharides were achieved by a short ultrasound-assisted extraction (up to 10 min) in the first step using 0.5% or 2% NaOH, when compared to the classical extraction lasting 60 min, what represents a shortening of the process by about 60% and lower consumption of the NaOH. The extracted polysaccharides comprised a complex of phenolics-rich heteroxylans contaminated to various extents with co-extracted amylose-rich starch as well as protein, which can be in part governed by the extraction conditions. The water-soluble fractions from both the classical and ultrasonics experiments were shown to exhibit significant radical scavenging activity in vitro, indicating their potential application as polysaccharide-based antioxidants. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.