Impact of several variables on the microwave extraction of chenopodium quinoa willd saponins

GIANNA V., MONTES J.M., CALANDRI E., GUZMÁN C.A

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2012

0950-5423

Despite their possible applications in diverse fields, saponins are still considered to be industrial waste. The use of saponins, however, would make seed processing more profitable and reduce the pollution of watercourses. In this work, the microwave extraction method of Chenopodium quinoa Willd saponins was investigated. This process would not alter the nutritional properties of quinoa seed, and at the same time, could yield profitable by-products as saponins. The effects of variables such as temperature, time of microwave application, solvent composition and solvent/mass grain ratio were investigated. Solvent mixtures (ethanol-water and isopropanol-water) were used in the extraction. The Taguchi design methodology was employed to determine the number of experiments and the optimal conditions for different extraction solvent mixtures. In addition, the efficiency of each saponin extration condition was analyzed. Results were in agreement with the predicted best conditions for both types of alcohol-water mixture.