Comparison of Antioxidant Activity of Kiwifruit (Actinidia Deliciosa L.) Peel's extract extracted by Ultrasound Bath and Probes

Introduction: The peel of fruits, in particular, are an abundant source of natural compounds and contain the higher amount of phenolics compared to the edible portions. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) is an ideal extraction method capable of producing high quantities of bioactive compounds with a shorter extraction time. Probe and bath systems are the two most common ways of applying ultrasound waves to the sample. Probe sonicators are constantly in contact with the sample and make reproducibility and repeatability difficult. In addition, the risk of sample contamination and foam production is higher. Bath sonicators can act on a range of samples simultaneously and allow for higher reproducibility. Kiwifruit belongs to family Actinidiaceae and genus Actinidia. Kiwifruit is characterized by a high content of vitamin C and other useful compounds such as vitamin E, flavonoids, and minerals. Phenolic compounds present in Kiwifruit peel are catechin, epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, and rutin. Several studies have been done on the extraction of various plants with ultrasonic waves. Most of the research on the extraction of plant extracts by ultrasound-assisted under various conditions of parentage such as time, solvent, temperature, and intensity of the sound obtained matched with other traditional methods of extraction and different studies have shown that there was never study on the effects of ultrasound bath and probes under the same conditions (temperature, solvent, time and frequency) on obtained extract and comparison of both two methods has been done. The aim of this study was comparing the antioxidant activity of Kiwifruit peel extract (KPE) obtained by two extraction methods ultrasound bath and probe techniques in same conditions temperature, solvent, time and frequency. Materials and Methods: Hayward Kiwifruit variety was purchased from gardens in Tonekabon City. The peels were dried in the shadow at 25-27˚C, and then they were finely ground in a laboratory grinder. The dried peels were pulverized and sieved through a 40-mesh sieve to obtain the powdered samples. The dry plant material was then packed in the plastic bag and stored in a freezer at -18˚ C. 10 g of Kiwifruit peel powder was extracted with 100 mL of a mixture of ethanol–water 80% (v/v) at two methods Ultrasound Bath Extraction by using a 25 kHz ultrasonic system (model Elma Sonic S30H, Germany), temperature (45°C), time (20 min) and Ultrasound Probe Extraction by using a 25 kHz ultrasonic system (model VCX 250, Sonics & Materials, Inc., USA), temperature (45°C), time (20 min), amplitude of 45% with a probe of 1 cm in diameter was used. After obtaining extracts, an efficiency of extraction, total phenolic and flavonoid compounds, scavenging activity of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay were measured and concentration of 0.1 mg/ml of synthetic antioxidant TBHQ was as the control sample. All data were reported as mean ± standard deviation of three replicates. The results were compared by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS for Windows [version 16]. Mean differences were significant for extraction efficiency, total phenolic and flavonoid compounds based on T-test (binary comparison) and other tests based on Duncan's test at 0.05. Charts were drawn with Microsoft Excel version 2016. Discussion & Results: These results showed that the highest amount of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, extraction efficiency, and antioxidant activity were obtained in UPAE-KP. In both extraction methods, with increasing KPE concentration, DPPH free radicals scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power also increased. The concentration of 2 mg/ml UPAE-KP extracted the highest percentage of inhibition (94.11%) in all of the concentrations of the extracts in two methods. UPAE-KP at concentrations of 1.5 and 2 mg/ml and UBAE-KP at a concentration of 2 mg/ml showed better performance in scavenging free radicals than TBHQ. Among the extracts, IC50 UPAE-KP was 0.2±0.06 mg/ml which was significantly different from UBAE-KP (P<0.05). TBHQ at a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml (with a percentage of inhibition of 88.04±0.5) showed a better radical inhibitory activity than the low concentrations of Kiwifruit Peel extracts. UPAE-KP with a lower IC50 (0.09±0.07) showed more reducing antioxidant power than UBAE-KP. TBHQ at a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml (with an absorption rate of 304/1) had greater reducing antioxidant power than the Kiwifruit Peel extracts at all concentrations except the concentration of 2 mg/ml UPAE-KP. In this study, the extraction of KPE with both ultrasound methods was acceptable in terms of efficiency and antioxidant activity, with the difference that the probe superior to the ultrasound bath. Therefore, according to the results, KPE was competitive with TBHQ activity. KPE can be used as a useful source to provide natural antioxidant, and the probe compared with the ultrasound bath is a better way of extracting the KPE phenolic compounds.