Value Added Products from Plant Processing

Abstract

Fat and wax (F&W) compounds have to be removed from raw plant materials before pectin and oligosaccharides (OS) can be isolated. In this research, the mixtures of F&W, and polyphenols and sugars were firstly separated from the roots of Eremurus hissaricus (Eremurus h.), and the byproducts of fruit processing, such as apple pomace, sunflower head residues, and grape seeds, etc., using hexane/ethanol or ethyl acetate as leaching reagents at various ratios of liquid to solid. The resultant mixtures were then extracted with an ethanol/water mixture to separate F&W from polyphenols and sugars. It was found that the F&W yield decreased in the sequence of apricot > apple > sunflower head residues > peach > pumpkin with 21.84% in apricot as the highest number. The amount of alcohol-water soluble compounds (AWSC), mainly polyphenols and sugars, decreased in the sequence of peach > sunflower head residues > apricot > pumpkin > apple. No inter-dependence of AWSC and F&W was identified.