Recovery of chemical components from Spondias mombin L. leaves using pressurized hot water, ultrasound and turbo-extraction techniques.

The fruit of Spondias mombin (cajazeira) is widely consumed in the northeast region of Brazil. In this work, three different extraction methods, namely ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), turbo-extraction (TE) and pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE), were evaluated in order to investigate the potential of cajazeira leaves as an alternative source of bioactive compounds. The extraction methods were compared in terms of yield, chemical composition and total phenolic content (TPC) of the extracts. The highest yields and TPC values were obtained by TE with a mixture ethanol: water (70:30%, v/v) as the solvent. PHWE has not yet been applied for the extraction of cajazeira leaves. Thus, it was evaluated as one alternative for the recovery of phenolic compounds under conditions of 80, 100 and 120 °C and 100 and 120 bar. A modeling study of PHWE kinetics was investigated at 80 °C and 200 bar. Furthermore, a biorefinery approach considering integrated processes to recover bioactive compounds was investigated and the results showed that combining processes may enhance the valorization of agricultural waste.