Phenolics from underutilized wild pomegranate fruit flavedo: Extraction, quantification, hierarchical clustering, antibacterial properties, HPLC, SEM analysis and FT-IR characterization
Hamid, N. S. Thakur, Rakesh Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, Neerja Rana, Abhimanyu Thakur
Abstract
Wild pomegranate flavedo powder was used for the comparison of extraction conditions of phenolics by maceration using various solvents (polar/non polar) with constant solid to solvent ratio (1:20) at variable temperatures (30–50 °C) for different time periods (2–6 h). The highest phenolics were recorded in ethanol:distilled water (60:40) combination at 30 °C (6 h) after comparison of all treatments. Using Hierarchical clustering, further grouping of treatments was also performed. The two best selected extracts after lyophilization were further compared for retention of phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant properties (2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, metal chelating, ferric reducing antioxidant power, reducing power) and antibacterial activity. Functional groups characterization of best selected lyophilized extract was done by FTIR, high performance liquid chromatography (ellagic acid, punicalagin) and structural morphology assessment by SEM. Flavedo extract is rich source of phenolics and flavonoids that makes it ideal for supplementation into functional/nutraceutical food.