A rapid recovery of phytochemicals from carrot seeds: an analytical approach

In the present study, Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and Soxhlet-extraction (SE) were compared for the extraction of phytochemicals from the seed powder of Daucus carota. Results showed that only 5 min of MAE gave maximum phenolics 275 mg and flavonoids 229 mg as compared to SE, which took 5 h to give its maximum. GC-MS analysis of MAE and SE revealed 15 and 11 compounds respectively; Estragole (52.55%) and linalool (39.97%) being the major component in MAE and SE-derived extract respectively. HPLC analysis showed a variety of phenolics and flavonoids in MAE as compared to SE. MAE extracts showed significantly higher antioxidant (82%) and antifungal potential (89.3%inhibition) compared to SE (54.32% and 60.7% respectively). Results suggested that MAE can rapidly extract phytochemicals from carrot seeds without affecting their biological activities. The usage of MAE in analytical labs can safely opt for rapid extraction of required phytochemicals by optimizing the parameters.