Optimising certain factors influencing the process of extracting polyphenolic compounds from areca nuts (Areca catechu L.) using response surface methodology

Abstract

Polyphenols are a group of natural compounds found in plants with antibacterial and antioxidant properties, offering significant potential applications in pharmaceutical and agricultural production. To extract and obtain a high content of polyphenolic compounds from areca nuts (Areca catechu L.), the study utilised a surface response methodology to assess the impact of various technical factors such as solvent concentration (X₁), solvent-tomaterial ratio (v/w) (X₂), and soaking time (hours) (X₃) on the yield of polyphenolic compounds (Y) extracted from areca nuts. The study’s results yielded a model describing the extraction of polyphenolic compounds from areca nuts using the objective function Y = 80,64 + 3,10X₁ - 1,27X₃ - 6,00X₁²- 3,66X₂²- 5,07X₃². Based on the objective function, the highest polyphenol content obtained was 80.72 mg GAE/g of raw material under the following conditions: ethanol solvent concentration of 55%, solventto-material ratio (v/w) of 35/1, and soaking time of 2 hours. The experimental polyphenol content results showed no statistically significant differences compared to the modelpredicted outcomes. These results serve as a basis for the polyphenol extraction process from areca nuts with antibacterial applications in agriculture and medicine.