Optimized green extraction of chiral perillaldehyde and multi-targeted molecular docking for advanced anti-aging applications : Sustainable valorization of Ammodaucus leucotrichus

What if the secret to youthful skin was hiding in a North African desert plant? Scientists just unlocked it with a microwave and a green chemistry twist.

Deep in the sands of North Africa grows Ammodaucus leucotrichus, a medicinal plant packed with perillaldehyde (PAE), a bioactive compound with serious anti-aging potential. But extracting it traditionally was slow and wasteful. Enter microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), a green method that slashes processing time while boosting yields.

Using response surface methodology, researchers optimized MAE to hit 98.29% PAE recovery in just 45 minutes at 900 W with a 3:1 liquid-to-solid ratio. That's a game-changer compared to hydrodistillation and steam distillation, which took longer and delivered lower purity. MAE also preserved more of the chiral bioactive form—85.04% versus 70.05% and 72.56% for the older methods.

The extracted PAE showed impressive bioactivity: 97.63% DPPH radical scavenging, 97.8% tyrosinase inhibition, and 95.2% collagenase inhibition—key enzymes in skin aging. Molecular docking confirmed strong binding at enzyme active sites with favorable energies around −6.2 kcal/mol.

This isn't just a lab curiosity. MAE-derived PAE could become a sustainable, high-value ingredient for the cosmeceutical industry, offering a green path to anti-aging products.

Key Points

• Microwave extraction hits 98.29% PAE yield in 45 min.
• MAE preserves 85.04% chiral PAE, beating traditional methods.
• PAE shows 97.8% tyrosinase and 95.2% collagenase inhibition.