Clitoria ternatea: Avaliação do tempo de extração de compostos fenólicos obtidos pela técnica assistida por ultrassom

Abstract

The use of new phenolic compounds extraction techniques has been studied over the years. The main objective of improved extraction techniques is to reduce the use of toxic solvents and also to promote the recovery of biocompounds with greater agility and less energy expenditure. Ultrasound extraction uses sound waves that are capable of promoting cavitation within solutions, breaking through the cell wall of various materials, making the compounds available and extracting with greater agility. Clitoria ternatea (CT) is known in Brazil as cunhã, blue flower, blue fairy or, then, butterfly pea, being commonly used in tea making. However, this plant has antioxidant, metal chelating, antimicrobial and anti-hyperglycemic activity due to its content of phenolic compounds. Therefore, the present study aims to obtain hydroalcoholic CT extracts using the ultrasound-assisted technique at different extraction times (20, 40, 60, 120 and 240 min), to evaluate the content of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity, determining the better extraction time. From the results obtained, it was possible to verify that among the studied extraction times, the content of phenolic compounds extracted from the CT petals varied between 5.55 and 7.16 (mg g^-1), being the best condition obtained in the 20 min. Regarding the antioxidant activity by the ABTS and DPPH methods, it was observed that there was no significant difference between the extracts obtained, being superior to those reported in the literature, demonstrating great potential for application of the extracts.