3.1.4. Selection of solvents
In general, solvent is considered an important parameter for MAE because it may affect the absorption of microwave energy and the solubility of the target ingredients (Zhang et al., 2011). Methanol and ethanol are the most hackneyed solvent to the extraction of flavonoids. But ethanol has several advantages to methanol, like higher extraction efficiency, environmental compatibility and lower toxicity and cost. So ethanol was used as the best solvent in this study.