Application of ultrasonication and PEGylation as green extraction technology for yield intensification of diallyl thiosulfinate (allicin)

The numerous advantages of bioactive phytochemicals like Diallyl thiosulfinate (DATS) or allicin on human health have attracted scientific inventions and innovations in the latest years for the application in formulating dietary supplements, food products and medicines. In order to maximize the extraction of the phytodrug DATS from Allium sativum, an indigenous approach was devised that relies on the hybrid application of ultrasonication and self-aggregation property of nonionic polymers. Under the optimal conditions of several process parameters (including solvent to garlic biomass ratio, ultrasonic amplitude, ultrasonic duty cycle, ultrasonication time), optimal efficiency of DATS extraction was achieved (3.67 mg/g of garlic biomass). From the two-way ANOVA analysis, ultrasound amplitude was found most significant parameter. Additionally, this proposed approach was able to enhance similar to 2.67 fold yield of DATS with significantly lower electric power consumption than the conventional technique. Moreover, polyethylene glycol based pH responsive self-assembly carrier system was prepared which helped to maintain a 94% concentration of DATS for around 30 days and reduced the concentration loss of DATS because of molecular degradation. This hybrid extraction-stabilization method can be beneficial for the industrial application of DATS extraction because its bioactivity was well preserved as observed from the in vitro antibacterial experiment.