Impact of Solvent Type on Total Phenol and Flavonoid Content and Sun Protection Factor of Crude Cashew Nutshell Liquid

Cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) is a cheap source of natural phenolic compounds that have numerous applications. These phenolic compounds have chemical structures with chromophores similar to those found in synthetic chemical UV-filters, which are present in commercial sunscreen products (SSPs). Thus, this study investigated the impact of solvents on the yield, total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and the sun protection factor (SPF) of crude CNSL. The percent yield ranged from (30.4 ± 0.7% to 49.3 ± 3.2%); hexane recorded the lowest yield, while ethanol recorded the highest. Acetone (101.2 ± 2.5 mg GA/g), methanol (99.5 ± 0.10), and chloroform (95.4 ± 3.7 mg GAE/g), recorded the highest TPC respectively, while hexane (33.3 ± 0.7 mg QE/g) recorded the highest TFC. The SPFs ranged from (22.1 ± 1.1 to 16.4 ± 0.8), chloroform (22.1 ± 1.1), acetone (21.5 ± 1.1), and methanol (19.3 ± 1.0) again recorded the highest values respectively, while hexane (16.4 ± 0.8) recorded the lowest. Our results revealed that extracting solvents has a significant impact on the yield and SPF of CNSL. Therefore, we propose that acetone, chloroform, and methanol, either alone or as mixtures, could be the best solvents for extracting CNSL with a good TPC and SPF.