Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Polyphenols from Crude Pollen

The aim of this study was to evaluate the extraction efficiency of polyphenols from crude pollen by an ultrasonic process. Prior to the polyphenols extraction, the crude pollen was defatted. The extraction from defatted pollen was carried out by varying four extraction parameters: ultrasonic amplitude (20%, 60% and 100%), solid/liquid ratio (10 g/L, 20 g/L and 30 g/L), temperature (35, 50 and 65 °C) and time (10, 20 and 30 min). The extracts were analyzed in terms of extraction yield (%), total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavones content (TFC). The extracted oil was analyzed in terms of fatty acids composition; myristic acid (159.1 µg × g(−1)) and cis-14-pentadecenoic acid (106.6 µg·g(−1)) were found in the highest amount in the pollen oil. The optimum conditions of extraction were determined and were, as follows: 100% amplitude of ultrasonic treatment, 30 g/L solid/liquid ratio, 40.85 °C and 14.30 min, which led to the extraction of 366.1 mg GAE/L of TPC and 592.2 mg QE/g of TFC, and also to an extraction yield of 1.92%.