Extraction and UHPLC Quantification of Ferulic Acid With Comparative Phytochemical Screening and Bioactivity Assessment of Banana Leaf, Stem, and Flower Bract Extracts

ABSTRACT Banana plant by‐products, such as leaves, the pseudostems, and the bracts, are usually discarded as waste despite having abundant sources of bioactive phytochemicals. The current research aimed to isolate and determine ferulic acid and determine the biological activities and phytochemical content of banana leaf extract, banana flower bract extract, and banana stem extract. The plant materials were subjected to phytochemical screening, GC‐MS analysis, antioxidant activity assessment using a radical scavenging assay, antimicrobial activity assessment against a few selected micro‐organisms, and FTIR analysis to characterize the functional groups. Alkaline hydrolysis was used to extract ferulic acid, which was measured by UHPLC. The findings indicated that flower bract extract had the greatest amount of total phenolic content (97.4 mg GAE/g), flavonoids (58.5 mg QE/g), and tannin (35.53 mg TAE/g), prior to extracting ferulic acid, followed by banana leaf extract and banana stem extract. The GC‐MS analysis indicated that some of the bioactives, such as organic acids, fatty acids, phenolics, and esters, were present. The highest antioxidant activity was in flower bract extract (79%). Antimicrobial activity was observed, with the best inhibition being in flower bract extract. The presence of ferulic acid in the extracts analyzed by UHPLC was confirmed at a retention time of 2.44 min, and the highest concentration was recorded in FBE (24.725 mg/kg). Generally, the experiment has shown that banana flower bracts are rich sources of ferulic acid and other bioactive compounds that have great antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials. Because of these properties, ferulic acid has been reported to show various biological effects, such as antihyperuricemic and cytoprotective activities, making it an important bioactive compound for nutraceutical and therapeutic applications.