Extraction of Ferulic acid from beetroot and tea leaves and its optimization

Ferulic acid (FA), a phenolic compound widely distributed in various plant sources, has shown promising antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. In this work, we extracted ferulic acid from beetroot and tea leaves by alkaline hydrolysis method, in which the ferulic acid from beetroot is more prominent than ferulic acid from tea leaves. Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity tests were performed to check the activity of ferulic acid. It was observed that beetroot has high antimicrobial activity and anti-inflammatory activity than tea leaves. Additionally, we focused on the optimization of ferulic acid extraction from beetroot using three different methods: one factor at a time, Plackett-Burman design and Response surface methodology. Initially, one factor at a time approach was utilized to evaluate the effects of individual factors such as substrate concentration, pH, temperature, agitation speed and incubation period on ferulic acid yield. Subsequently, Plackett-Burman design was employed to screen the significant factors influencing ferulic acid extraction and it was found that substrate concentration, agitation speed and temperature efficiency influence the yield of ferulic acid. Finally, Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to further optimize the extraction process and determine the optimal conditions for maximum ferulic acid yield. The results obtained from the optimization studies indicated that 2g substrate concentration, 100 agitation speed and 30 ◦C to 37 ◦C temperature significantly influenced the yield of ferulic acid from beetroot. The RSM analysis provided an optimized set of extraction parameters that maximized the ferulic acid yield.