Evaluation of polyphenolic profile and antioxidant activity of Pistacia lentiscus L. Leaves and fruit extract obtained by optimized microwave‐assisted extraction

What happens when you combine modern green technology with a hardy Mediterranean shrub? You unlock a treasure trove of powerful plant antioxidants in a fraction of the usual time.

Pistacia lentiscus L. is no ordinary Mediterranean shrub. Packed with health-promoting polyphenols across all its parts, this plant demands an efficient way to release its biochemical secrets. Enter microwave-assisted extraction, a green technique designed for rapid and effective isolation. Researchers set out to optimize temperature, extraction time, and microwave power for both leaves and fruit. The ideal recipe for leaves required 69 °C, 512 W, and 12 minutes, while the fruit demanded a slightly more intense approach at 75 °C, 602 W, and 15 minutes. Remarkably, these optimized conditions yielded a total phenolic content comparable to traditional 30-minute heat-reflux methods, but much faster. UPLC/ESI-MS2 analysis revealed a rich profile of 34 distinct compounds. Myricetin glycosides dominated the flavonoids, while gallic acid and its derivatives led the phenolic acids. Furthermore, an ORAC assay confirmed that leaf extracts packed a higher antioxidant punch than fruit extracts, mirroring their respective phenolic abundances.

Key Points

• Optimized microwave extraction matches traditional yields much faster
• Identified 34 polyphenolic compounds including myricetin and gallic acid
• Leaf extracts showed higher antioxidant capacity than fruit extracts