Untargeted metabolomic profile of recovered bioactive compounds by subcritical water extraction of acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) pomace

• Published in: Food chemistry 2022-12, Vol.397, p.133718-133718, Article 133718
• Main Authors: Mesquita, Patricia Campos, Rodrigues, Luiz Gustavo G., Mazzutti, Simone, Ribeiro, Paulo Riceli Vasconcelos, de Brito, Edy Sousa, Lanza, Marcelo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antioxidant activity; Heatmap analysis; Malpighia emarginata DC by-product; Phenolic compounds; Subcritical water extraction
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.133718

[Display omitted] •Subcritical water extraction (SWE) of agroindustrial acerola by-product.•The temperature increase affected the results obtained by the SWE process.•UPLC untargeted analysis detected 16 metabolites in fresh and dry acerola by-product extracts.•SWE was able to extract ascorbic acid, kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin.•Strategy of studying different moisture contents in SWE showed promising results. The untargeted metabolomics approach was used to compare the chemical profiles of acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) pomace extracts. The effect of drying the raw material before subcritical water extraction (SWE) at different temperatures on the yield, phenolic content, and in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated. The results were compared with those obtained via Soxhlet and the findings suggest that SWE saves time (15 min) and solvent for extracting valuable components as compared to Soxhlet (6 h). An increase in temperature significantly improved the extraction yield (23.9 to 33.4 %), phenolic content (119.1 to 362 mgGAEg−1), and antioxidant activity, and higher values were obtained with SWE as compared to Soxhlet. The most abundant compounds detected by UPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS were ascorbic acid, kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin. The investigation of different moisture contents in the SWE showed promising results for eliminating the drying operation, saving time and energy, and obtaining highly concentrated phenolic-rich by-products.