ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1604863
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative and Sustainable Management of Organic Food and Beverage WastesView all 3 articles
Optimizing microwave-assisted extraction of ursolic acid from apple pomace using response surface methodology
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Food Science, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Design, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
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This study investigates the optimization of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) to recover ursolic acid (UA) from Hanfu apple pomace, using response surface methodology (RSM). The effects of three key variables-extraction time, sample-to-solvent ratio, and ethanol concentration-on UA yield were studied. A Box-Behnken design was employed to model and optimize these variables. The results showed that extraction time had the most significant effect on UA yield, followed by ethanol concentration and sample-to-solvent ratio. Optimal conditions for UA extraction were found to be 118.25 seconds for extraction time, a 1:30.86 sample-to-solvent ratio, and 82.23% ethanol concentration, with a predicted maximum UA yield of 89.92%. These results were validated with an actual UA yield of 88.87%, confirming the model's predictive reliability. The study highlights the efficiency of MAE for extracting UA, demonstrating its potential as a green extraction method for bioactive compounds from apple pomace. Further purification using XAD-7 resin improved UA purity significantly.
Keywords: Food waste valorisation, Ursolic acid, apple pomace, Response Surface Methodology, bioactive compounds
Received: 02 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Zhang, Meng and Shokri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sajad Shokri, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Design, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
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