Ultrasound combined with plasma-activated water to enhance the extraction efficiency, emulsification properties and antioxidant activity of apricot polysaccharides
摘要
Polysaccharides are important active components in apricot fruits utilization. In this study, ultrasound combined with plasma-activated water (UPAW) was used to extract apricot polysaccharides efficiently. The Plackett-Burman Design Combined Box-Behnken Design was applied to establish the best process circumstances for the extraction of apricot polysaccharides, in the following order: jet power of 500 W, jet time of 60 s, ultrasonic power of 400 W, ultrasonic time of 45 min, ultrasonic temperature of 30 ℃ and solid-liquid ratio of 1:30 g/ml. Apricot polysaccharides were the typical pectic polysaccharides with higher D-galacturonic acid content. Compared with polysaccharides obtained by hot water extraction (HW-P), polysaccharides obtained by ultrasound combined with plasma-activated water (UPAW-P) did not change the crystallinity. They have the same monosaccharide composition but with different ratios. UPAW-P has a higher content of galacturonic acid and a lower content of arabinose in the monosaccharide composition, and the molecular weight of UPAW-P is lower. Apricot pomace is more loosely broken after extraction of UPAW-P. It is noteworthy that the UPAW-P not only enhanced the emulsification activity and emulsification stability, but also improved the antioxidant activity. In conclusion, the present study confirmed that UPAW extraction method could not only effectively change the molecular structure of apricot polysaccharides, but also significantly enhance their bioactivities by characterization means of FTIR, XRD and SEM combined with bioactivity determination. Thus, the UPAW is a new method that combines extraction and activity enhancement into one, which serves as a guide for future investigations and apricot polysaccharide manufacturing.
Graphical Abstract