Polysaccharides and Phenolic Compounds Recovered from Red Bell Pepper, Tomato and Basil By-Products Using a Green Extraction by Extractor Timatic®

Fruits and vegetables processing produces significant amounts of by-products rich in valuable bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and dietary fiber. Food by-product re-use promotes the eco-sustainability of several crops. This study aimed to apply green extractions of bioactive compounds from by-products of basil, tomato, and red bell pepper production. Tests were performed by applying extraction procedures both at laboratory scale and using the Timatic (R) extractor. Water and ethanol 10% and 20% were used for extraction of red bell pepper and tomato, testing different temperatures (30, 50, and 90 degrees C; water at 90 degrees C and ethanol 20% were applied for basil. The obtained phenolic extracts were analyzed by HPLC-DAD-MS. Polysaccharides of tomato and red bell pepper were extracted at laboratory scale and chemically characterized using H-1-NMR to define the methylation and acylation degree, and DLS to estimate the hydrodynamic volume. Laboratory extraction tests allowed efficient scaling-up of the process on the Timatic (R) extractor. Phenolic content in the dried extracts (DE) ranged 8.0-11.2 mg/g for tomato and red bell pepper and reached 240 mg/g for basil extracts. Polysaccharide yields (w/w on DM) reached 6.0 and 10.4% for dried tomato and red bell pepper, respectively. Dry extracts obtained using the Timatic (R) extractor and water can be useful sources of bioactive phenols. The study provided new data on tomato and red bell pepper polysaccharides that may be useful for future applications.

Automated summary

This study aimed to extract valuable bioactive compounds from by-products of basil, tomato, and red bell pepper production. Water and ethanol extraction methods were used, with different temperatures for each sample. The phenolic extracts were analyzed, and the polysaccharides of tomato and red bell pepper were chemically characterized. The study showed that the dry extracts obtained can serve as important sources of bioactive phenols.