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Berry fruits are known as "superfoods" due to health benefits associated with the high content of bioactive compounds or phytonutrients. Organic extraction solvents are fundamentally volatile compounds acquired from non-renewable resources, i.e petroleum-based solvents are presumed to be harmful to both human health and the environment. Owing to the new emphasis on environmental and safety protections and the development of green chemistry, finding alternative solvents to replace the organic ones has recently become a major concern. Indeed, there is a great interest in the scientific community to develop a suitable green approach to allow the extraction and recovery of the bioactive phytonutrients from berry sources for applications in improving human health and nutrition. In this study, the phytonutrient composition of three popular wild berries: blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), partridgeberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) and Rosehipberry (Rosa canina), were evaluated following extraction using biphasic green solvents at pH 2.5, 7.0, and 11.5 under pressurized conditions using Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) system. The total phenolic content and composition, antioxidant activity, vitamin and mineral content of the berry extracts were evaluated using Folin-Ciocalteu assay, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power Assay (FRAP), Ultra-High-pressure Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively. The highest total antioxidant activity (p ≤ 0.05) and phenolic content were observed in rosehip berry followed by blueberry and partridgeberry in the hydroethanolic extracts at pH 11.5. Nevertheless, the highest extraction efficiency of total fat-soluble vitamins (FSV) and total B vitamins were also observed in the hydroethanolic extract at pH 11.5. Both in rosehipberry and partridgeberry the highest vitamin C content was observed in hydroethanolic extract at pH 11.5, whereas in blueberry it was observed in the pH 2.5 hydroethanolic extract. In the present study, results demonstrated that using the green solvent system (hydroethanolic, 70:30 v/v) at alkaline pH (11.5) as a pressurized fluid in the ASE system provided significant recovery of phytonutrients from wild berries. This green environmentally friendly system of extraction could represent a suitable alternative for the preparation of food grade or green solvent-based extracts for applications in the food and nutraceutical industry. [Display omitted] • ASE extraction at various pH's showed useful for the recovery of phytonutrients in wild berries under pressurized conditions. • The highest HAA, LAA and TAA were observed in the hydroethanolic extract at pH 11.5 in all wild berries analyzed. • A suitable alternative extraction system for the preparation of food grade or green solvent-based extracts has been established. • Functional extracts from wild berries can be used in the food and nutraceutical sectors and various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is increased interest in finding appropriate food-grade green extraction systems capable of extracting these bioactive compounds from dietary mushrooms for applications in various food, pharmacological, or nutraceutical formulations. Herein, we evaluated a modified Swiss water process (SWP) method using alkaline and acidic pH at low and high temperature under pressurized conditions as a suitable green food grade solvent to obtained extracts enriched with myco-nutrients (dietary phenolics, total antioxidants (TAA), vitamins, and minerals) from Chaga. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution accurate mass tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRAMS-MS/MS) was used to assess the phenolic compounds and vitamin levels in the extracts, while inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine the mineral contents. Over 20 phenolic compounds were quantitatively evaluated in the extracts and the highest total phenolic content (TPC) and total antioxidant activity (TAA) was observed at pH 11.5 at 100 °C. The most abundant phenolic compounds present in Chaga extracts included phenolic acids such as protocatechuic acid 4-glucoside (0.7–1.08 µg/mL), syringic acid (0.62–1.18 µg/mL), and myricetin (0.68–1.3 µg/mL). Vitamins are being reported for the first time in Chaga. Not only, a strong correlation was found for TPC with TAA (r-0.8, <0.0001), but also, with individual phenolics (i.e., Salicylic acid), lipophilic antioxidant activity (LAA), and total antioxidant minerals (TAM). pH 2.5 at 100 °C treatment shows superior effects in extracting the B vitamins whereas pH 2.5 at 60 and 100 °C treatments were outstanding for extraction of total fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin E content was the highest for the fat-soluble vitamins in the Chaga extract under acidic pH (2.5) and high temp. (100 °C) and ranges between 50 to 175 µg/100 g Chaga. Antioxidant minerals ranged from 85.94 µg/g (pH7 at 100 °C) to 113.86 µg/g DW (pH2.5 at 100 °C). High temperature 100 °C and a pH of 2.5 or 9.5. The treatment of pH 11.5 at 100 °C was the most useful for recovering phenolics and antioxidants from Chaga including several phenolic compounds reported for the first time in Chaga. SWP is being proposed herein for the first time as a novel, green food-grade solvent system for the extraction of myco-nutrients from Chaga and have potential applications as a suitable approach to extract nutrients from other matrices. Chaga extracts enriched with bioactive myconutrients and antioxidants may be suitable for further use or applications in the food and nutraceutical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]