Sustainable and efficient surfactant-based microwave-assisted extraction of target polyphenols and furanocoumarins from fig (Ficus carica L.) leaves

Nowadays, developed an efficient and sustainable method to extract bioactive compounds from plants biomass has gained more and more attention. As surfactant aqueous possesses an obviously advantage of highly extraction efficiency from the raw plants, it is naturally to emerge as an alternative to traditional extractant. In order to obtain the maximum yield in the shortest time, the surfactant-based microwave-assisted extraction was applied to extract five target bioactive compounds from fig ( Ficus carica L.) leaves. Under optimal conditions, the extraction yields of caffeoylmalic acid, psoralic acid-glucoside, rutin, psoralen and bergapten reached 9.72 mg/g, 5.95 mg/g, 4.77 mg/g, 15.65 mg/g and 3.49 mg/g, respectively. These results showed that the final extraction yields were much higher than those by traditional methods. The present study indicated that the surfactant (PEG8000)-based microwave-assisted extraction method was extremely sustainable and efficient for extraction of active ingredient from fig leaves. • It was the first time to use surfactant to extract target compounds of fig leaves. • The extraction process was optimized by response surface methodology. • Foam fractionation was applied for recover of the surfactant in extraction solution. • This method possesses a promising prospect in the application of plants extraction.