Enhancing the extraction of bioactive compounds from Morinda citrifolia leavesthrough citric acid-catalyzed ultrasonic processing

Citric acid-catalyzed ultrasonic extraction is one of the emerging methods of extracting bioactive compounds in plants including Morinda citrifolia leaves. The ultrasonic extraction method offers a shorter operating time, reduces solvent consumption, and is environmentally friendly. This study was conducted to determine the effect of processing parameters citric acid concentration (0.1% w/v, 0.55% w/v, and 1.0% w/v), extraction time (1 min, 6 mins, and 11 mins), and power of extraction (1%, 38%, 75%) which affects the citric acid-catalyzed ultrasonic extraction and to study the effectiveness of this ultrasonic extraction method in extracting bioactive compounds from Morinda citrifolia leaves. This study used an ultrasonic extraction method using citric acid as a catalyst and the effect of processing parameters was tested on total phenolic content (TPC), 2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Based on the study, citric acid concentrations (% v/v), extraction time (min), and power of extraction (%) had a significant effect (p<0.05) on the DPPH. The time and the power of extraction also showed a significant impact (p<0.05) on the FRAP analysis. However, for TPC, only the citric acid concentration and extraction time affected the TPC values, meanwhile, the extraction power did not affect the TPC.