Heating and extraction of phenolic compounds

Various extraction methods for phenolic compounds in plant material have been published (Ayres and Loike, 1990 Arts and Hollman, 1998 Andreasen et ah, 2000 Fernandez et al., 2000). In this case phenolic compounds were an important part of the plant material and all the published methods were optimised to remove those analytes from the matrix. Our interest was to find the solvents to modily the taste, but not to extract the phenolic compounds of interest. In each test the technical treatment of the sample was similar. Extraction was carried out at room temperature (approximately 23 °C) for 30 minutes in a horizontal shaker with 200 rpm. Samples were weighed into extraction vials and solvent was added. The vials were closed with caps to minimise the evaporation of the extraction solvent. After 30 minutes the samples were filtered to separate the solvent from the solid. Filter papers were placed on aluminium foil and, after the solvent evaporahon, were removed. Extracted samples were dried at 100°C for 30 minutes to evaporate all the solvent traces. The solvents tested were chloroform, ethanol, diethylether, butanol, ethylacetate, heptane, n-hexane and cyclohexane and they were tested with different solvent/solid ratios. Methanol (MeOH) and acetonitrile (ACN) were not considered because of the high solubility of catechins and lignans to MeOH and ACN. The extracted phloem samples were tasted in the same way as the heated ones. Detailed results from each extraction experiment are presented in Table 14.2. 

Chlorofonn is too non-polar to dissolve the phenolic compounds under study, but it dissolves many of the monoterpenes, at least to some extent. Because the solubility of some monoterpenes into chloroform was low, different solvent/ solid ratios were tested. These were 50,20,10 and 5 1/kg of dry phloem. The extracts were bright yellow and the strongest colour was with the smallest solvent/solid ratio (51/kg). The colour of the solvent indicated that the solubility of the extractable compounds was not restricting the reaction even with the smallest solvent volume. The taste of the dry samples was evaluated by comparing them to the original phloem sample. The results showed that the mildest taste was in the phloem extracted with a solvent/solid ratio of 50 1/kg and 20 1/kg also had some effect on the taste. The taste of the chloroform-extracted phloem was stabile and it was the same after a week. 

EtOH extraction was the most efficient way to improve the flavour of the phloem. A solvent/solid ratio of at least 10 1/kg was needed to achieve a significant change in the taste. The loss of catechins was approximately 27% and that of lignans was 35%. All the catechins and lignans were found from the EtOH extract. Losses of lignans and catechins were smaller with other sovents, but either the taste was not modified or the cost of solvent treatment would be too high. Phenolic compounds like lignans and catechins also have a bitter taste and some improvement in flavour may have occurred because of the lower concentration of these. The disappearance of the characteristic 

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