Advances in green extraction methods, biological properties, and applications of betanin and vitexin: An updated review and bibliometric analysis

What if the leftovers from your salad could become a treasure trove of health-boosting compounds? This review dives into the green extraction of bioactive molecules from food by-products, turning waste into wellness.

Imagine the peels and stems from your kitchen—basil, tomato, and red bell pepper—transformed into valuable extracts. This study explores eco-friendly methods to pull out bioactive compounds from these by-products, promoting sustainability in agriculture. Using water and ethanol at different concentrations and temperatures, researchers tested both lab-scale and industrial-scale extraction with the Timatic® extractor. The phenolic extracts were analyzed with HPLC-DAD-MS, revealing that dried basil extracts packed up to 240 mg/g of phenolics, while tomato and red bell pepper ranged from 8.0 to 11.2 mg/g. Polysaccharides from tomato and red bell pepper were also extracted, with yields reaching 6.0% and 10.4% (w/w on dry matter), respectively. These polysaccharides were characterized using 1H-NMR and DLS, providing new insights into their structure. The results show that scaling up from lab to industrial extraction is efficient, and the dry extracts, especially those from basil, could be valuable sources of bioactive phenols. This research not only reduces waste but also opens doors for future applications in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.

Key Points

• Green extraction from basil, tomato, and red bell pepper by-products.
• Phenolic content up to 240 mg/g in basil extracts.
• Efficient scaling from lab to Timatic® industrial extractor.