The aim of this research was to optimize the operating parameters in microwave assisted
extraction process (MIE) such as temperature, mass of the sample, extraction time on the betalain
content from dragon fruit peel using response surface methodology (RSM). Three factors three
levels Box-Behnken response surface design (BBD) was used for optimization and mathematical
model development. Significant quadratic polynomial model was obtained (R2 = 0.9892 for
betalain content) with high coefficient determination value and numerical optimization was
employed to achieve optimum conditions which was found to be; temperature of 35 C, mass of
the sample of 20 g, and treatment time of 8 min. Under these conditions, 9 mg/L of betalain content
was obtained and it was validated using experimental values.
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