SCREENING OF PARAMETERS FOR THE EXTRACTION OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES FROM TAGETES PATULA AND ASSESSMENT OF THE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THEIR AQUEOUS EXTRACTS

The influence of various technological factors on the efficiency of extraction of water-soluble extractive substances from dry inflorescences of marigolds, prostrate (Tagetes patula), including temperature, mixing intensity, hydromodulus, and extraction duration, was studied. A rational mode of the extraction process was established based on the given characteristics of the integral antioxidant activity of aqueous phytoextracts, correlated to a unit of extractive substances released in each experiment. The value of the integral antioxidant activity was determined by coulometric titration with electrogenerated bromine using rutin as a standard. The best results (71–75 mg/100 ml of extract) were obtained under the following process conditions: temperature 70 °C, stirring intensity 500 rpm, hydromodulus 1 : 300, phytomaterial particle size 5 mm, and extraction time 90 min. HPLC analysis of an aqueous extract of marigold inflorescences revealed the presence of two groups of phenolic compounds: phenolic acids and flavonoids. Among phenolic acids, gallic, chlorogenic, caffeic, coumaric, ferulic and synapic acids, as well as flavonoids rutin and quercetin were identified.