Χρήση τεχνικών υψηλής ενέργειας για την παραλαβή φαινολικών ενώσεων από υποπροϊόντα βιομηχανίας ροδάκινων

Peach (Prunus persica L.) fruits are nutritionally and economically important and they are cultivated worldwide, especially in countries with the Mediterranean diet. In addition to fresh fruits, industries process peaches into products that include only the valuable fruit and not the peel or seed. These by-products contain high levels of phytochemicals with biological activities that could contribute to many applications in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals products. In the present Master’s Thesis the phenolic content of a sample from peach processing by-product was examined. At first, the phenolic content received from the sample with high energy extractions, specifically with Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction (UAE) and Microwave-Assisted Extraction (MAE). The recovery of the phenolic content was optimized with the application of Experimental Design (DOE) and the concentration of phenolic compounds from the optimized extracts was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu assay. The antiradical and reducing / antioxidant activity of the same extracts was estimated by ABTS●+ και FRAP assays, respectively. At the same time, the two extraction methods were compared in respect to their efficiency in the extraction of phenolic compounds. Finally, HPLC-ESI-MS2 analysis was conducted for the quantification of the two main phenolic compounds identified in the peach extracts, namely chlorogenic acid and naringenin.