Antioxidant and antibacterial potential of butia (Butia catarinensis) seed extracts obtained by supercritical fluid extraction

The Butia catarinensis species are native to the southern region of South America. Most part of the harvested butia fruits is used to produce frozen pulp, while the seeds are usually discarded. Considering that, butia seeds are practically unexplored scientifically or commercially, this study aimed to provide an alternative to valorize this industrial waste. Different extraction methods were compared in terms of process global yield, extract composition, total phenolic content (TPC), and also antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the recovered extracts. The methods used were: supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) conducted at 40 degrees C-60 degrees C and pressures from 100 to 300 bar, and the low pressure extractions (LPE) ultrasonic assisted (UE) and Soxhlet (SE) with different solvents. The method SE using ethanol (EtOH) as solvent provided the best extraction yield (18.4%). The extracts obtained by ETOH and ethanol-water (EtOH-H2O) (1/1, v/v) presented the best TPC values and antioxidant performance. The extracts obtained by SFE at 40 degrees C/200 bar, 50 degrees C/100 bar, 60 degrees C/300 bar and by LPE with ETOH and EtOH-H2O were considered strong bacterial inhibitors. The main identified compounds were cinnamic acid and caprylic acids. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.