Use of supercritical fluid extraction to obtain antioxidant compounds from banana tree inflorescence (Musa paradisíaca L.).

• Grant number: 22/15890-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Priscilla Carvalho Veggi
• Grantee: Lorrayne Lucas Mendes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil

Abstract

There is a growing social concern for issues related to sustainability, and in this way, the search for renewable and sustainable raw materials and processes has become the focus of numerous research. Brazil is among the largest food producers in the world, which naturally leads to the generation of large amounts of waste from cultivation and processing in the food industry. The country produced about 7 million tons of bananas in the year 2021; with each ton of fruit produced, around 4 tons of waste are generated, such as pseudo stems, leaves, bark, and inflorescences. Some studies show that banana inflorescence has a high antioxidant potential which may represent a viable and economical source of compounds health-beneficial bioactive. The supercritical CO2 extraction process (EFS-CO2) is an environmentally friendly alternative technology widely used to recover several bioactive compounds. It is considered fast, efficient, and clean for the extraction of bioactive compounds from plant matrices. In this context, this work aims to obtain bioactive compounds of potential antioxidants from banana inflorescence (Musa acuminata 'Dwarf Cavendish') using the EFS-CO2 and the characterization of the extracts regarding the overall yield effect, antioxidant activity, and phenolic compounds. Expect this project to intensify the extraction yields and the antioxidant concentration in the extract of banana inflorescence and understand the mechanisms that govern the extraction to explain the phenomenology of processes.