In the present work, appropriate operating conditions were
identified for MAE of flavonoids from T. bellerica fruits through
studies on the kinetics of extraction. Both solvent-to-feed ratio
and temperature played pivotal role in influencing both kinetic
parameters and the flavonoid yield. T. bellerica was observed to
be a good source of flavonoids providing a maximum yield of
25.21 mg/g using MAE carried out at 40 mL/g and 100 C. Accordingly,
82.74% of total flavonoids could be recovered by MAE using
water as the solvent, while only 63.75% could be recovered by CE.
The thermodynamic parameters revealed the MAE process to be
endothermic and spontaneous. The GC–MS data showed that
the primary compounds in the extracts obtained by MAE were
same as those obtained using conventional extraction indicating
the negligible influence of microwave irradiation on the stability
of compounds. The kinetic model represented as a function of
temperature and solvent-to-feed-ratio can be used to determine
the residence time required to achieve a desired flavonoid
concentration in the extract in a continuous MAE of flavonoids
from T. bellerica using water as the solvent.