Boosting the Sustainable Transformation of Cornus mas L. Stones Using a Hybrid Strategy Involving Microwave-Assisted...

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Chemistry
• Natural Product Chemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Cornus mas (C. mas) stones are an underutilized biomass.
• Developing efficient extraction methods is key to valorizing this resource.
• Bioactive compounds in C. mas stones have potential high-value applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a hybrid two-route strategy for extracting bioactive compounds from C. mas stones.
• To compare the efficiency of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) versus a hybrid Soxhlet-MAE approach.
• To identify optimal conditions for maximizing bioactive compound recovery and antioxidant activity.

Main Methods:

• Route 1: Direct microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of C. mas stones.
• Route 2: Soxhlet n-hexane extraction followed by MAE of the defatted residue.
• Analysis using GC-FID for fatty acids and HPLC-HRMS/MS for metabolite profiling.
• Quantification of total polyphenol, flavonoid, and saponin content (TPC, TFC, TSC) and antioxidant activity (AA).

Main Results:

• Soxhlet extraction yielded 4.00 ± 0.18% oil with low antioxidant activity.
• Subsequent MAE extracts from Route 2 showed higher TPC, TFC, and TSC compared to Route 1 MAE extracts.
• Route 2 extracts exhibited 1.7-fold higher antioxidant activity (ABTS values), attributed to higher phenolic content, including the novel detection of methyl gallate.

Conclusions:

• The optimized hybrid strategy effectively maximizes bioactive compound recovery from C. mas stones.
• Route 2 demonstrates superior potential for obtaining antioxidant-rich extracts.
• This study expands the application potential of underused C. mas stone biomass.