Conventional and Enzyme-Assisted Extraction of Rosemary Leaves (Rosmarinus officinalis L.): Toward a Greener Approach to High Added-Value Extracts

Abstract

The effect of different extraction methods of rosemary leaves on the total phenolic content (TPC), and the antioxidant activity of the extracts was herein investigated. Firstly, the solid-liquid conventional extraction (CEM) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) were implemented in an effort to identify the effect of the solvent and of microwave irradiation on the extract quality. The extract obtained from CEM at room temperature, using ethanol/water 95:5 v/v, showed the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 12.1 μg/mL). MAE using ethanol/water 50:50 v/v provided an extract with TPC and DPPH radical scavenging ability in a significantly shorter extraction time (1 h for MAE and 24 h for CEM). Enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) using five commercial enzyme formulations was implemented, and the kinetic equation was calculated. Finally, the effect of EAE as a pretreatment method to CEM was examined. Pretreatment of the plant material with pectinolytic enzymes for 1 h prior to a 24 h CEM with 50% hydroethanolic solvent was found to be the optimum conditions for the extraction of rosemary leaves, providing an extract with higher DPPH radical scavenging ability (IC50 14.3 ± 0.8 μg/mL) and TPC (15.2 ± 0.3 mgGAE/grosemary) than the corresponding extract without the enzyme pretreatment.