Data-Driven Optimization of Polyphenol Recovery and Antioxidant Capacity from Medicinal Herbs Using Chemometrics and...

Area of Science:

• Phytochemistry and Food Science
• Chemometrics and Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Bioactive compound extraction from medicinal herbs is crucial for functional food development.
• Polyphenols and flavonoids possess significant antioxidant properties.
• Medicinal herbs contain diverse phytochemicals with potential health benefits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize polyphenol and antioxidant recovery from five medicinal herbs using RSM and PLS.
• To identify the optimal extraction conditions for maximizing bioactive compound yield and antioxidant activity.
• To characterize the phenolic profile and elucidate the functional mechanisms of optimized extracts.

Main Methods:

• Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression for experimental design and optimization.
• Extraction of polyphenols and flavonoids from *Helichrysum stoechas*, *Chelidonium majus*, *Mentha pulegium*, *Artemisia absinthium*, and *Adiantum capillus-veneris*.
• Analysis of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), and DPPH radical scavenging activity.
• High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC-DAD) for phenolic compound profiling.
• Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for variance analysis and data visualization.

Main Results:

• The PLS compromise optimum for *Mentha pulegium* was achieved using 60% ethanol at 55 mL/g, yielding high TPC, TFC, FRAP, and DPPH radical scavenging activity.
• HPLC-DAD identified 18 polyphenolic compounds, with kaempferol-3-O-β-rutinoside, protocatechuic acid, and luteolin-7-O-glucoside being dominant.
• Specific phenolic compounds exhibited distinct mechanisms, including modulation of oxidative pathways, cardioprotective effects, and anti-inflammatory signaling.
• PCA explained 84.8% of variance, differentiating optimized from non-optimized extracts, while PLS confirmed strong correlations between phenolics and antioxidant indices.

Conclusions:

• An integrated chemometric approach effectively optimizes bioactive compound extraction from medicinal herbs.
• Data-driven optimization yields phenolic-rich herbal extracts with balanced and robust antioxidant potential for functional foods.
• Identified phenolic compounds contribute complementary health benefits, validating their use in functional food applications.