Optimization of Phenolic Antioxidant Extraction from Wuweizi (Schisandra chinensis) Pulp Using Random-Centroid Optimazation Methodology

The extraction optimization and composition analysis of polyphenols in the fresh pulp of Wuweizi (Schisandra chinensis) have been investigated in this study. The extraction process of polyphenols from Wuweizi pulp was optimized using Random-Centroid Optimization (RCO) methodology. Six factors including liquid and solid ratio, ethanol concentration, pH, temperature, heating time and extraction times, and three extraction targets of polyphenol content, antioxidant activity and extract yield were considered in the RCO program. Three sets of optimum proposed factor values were obtained corresponding to three extraction targets respectively. The set of optimum proposed factor values for polyphenol extraction given was chosen in further experiments as following: liquid and solid ratio (v/w) 8, ethanol 67.3% (v/v), initial pH 1.75, temperature 55 °C for 4 h and extraction repeated for 4 times. The Wuweizi polyphenol extract (WPE) was obtained with a yield of 16.37 mg/g and composition of polyphenols 1.847 mg/g, anthocyanins 0.179 mg/g, sugar 9.573 mg/g and protein 0.327 mg/g. The WPE demonstrated high scavenging activities against DPPH radicals.