Extraction of flavonoids from the rind of Passiflora edulis f. Flavicarpa by pressurized solvent extraction and aqueous two-phase systems

Abstract

Abstract As the rind of passion fruit is rich in flavonoids, it can be used as an alternative to obtain these compounds. This study extracted flavonoids from passion fruit rinds by pressurized solvent extraction. The obtained extract was submitted to aqueous two-phase extraction formed by ethanol and salts for the recovery of flavonoids. Passion fruit rind (PFR) was submitted to pressurized solvent extraction (PSE) using ethanol/water solution at 60:40 (v/v) as a solvent for the extraction of bioactive compounds, showing a polyphenol content of 5.48 gGAE∙kg− 1 PFR. Then, aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) showed that flavonoids and sugars partitioned into opposite phases. The recovery of flavonoids in the top phase was above 98% w/w, and the recovery of sugars in the bottom phase was above 97% w/w. LC‒MS was used to evaluate the flavonoid profile in the top phase of ATPS, and the major flavonoids detected were lucenin-2, vicenin, isoorientin, apigenin, schaftoside and vitexin. According to the flavonoid profile by LC‒MS and the values of recovery of flavonoids, ATPS proved to be an effective technique for recovery of flavonoids from PSE extraction.