Evaluating the Effectiveness of β-Carotene Extraction from Pulsed Electric Field-Treated Carrot Pomace Using Oil-in-Water Microemulsion

Thermodynamically stable microemulsions were used to extract beta-carotene from pulsed electric field (PEF)-treated carrot pomace. In this study, a three-level Box-Behnken design was used to predict the effect of extraction time (10-110 min), extraction temperature (30-70 degrees C) and carrot/microemulsion ratio (1:30-1:90 w/w) on the beta-carotene content, polydispersity index (PDI) and particle size of the microemulsions. The beta-carotene extracted from PEF-treated carrot pomace using microemulsions was higher than untreated carrot pomace. The extraction efficiency of beta-carotene using microemulsions was higher compared to 100 % hexane or 100 % glycerol monocaprylocaprate oil. A mathematical model was developed to predict the optimal extraction conditions using transparent microemulsions with high loading of beta-carotene, low PDI and small microemulsion particle size. The model predicted that an extraction time of 49.4 min, temperature of 52.2 degrees C and carrot/microemulsion ratio of 1:70 (w/w) would result in microemulsions with beta-carotene loading of 19.6 mu g/g, PDI of 0.27 and particle size of 74 nm. This study demonstrates the potential of using oil-in-water microemulsions as extraction media for beta-carotene.