Extraction, Characterization, and Bioactivity of Phenolic Compounds—A Case on Hibiscus Genera

Abstract

Phenolic compounds have recently gained interest, as they have been related to improvements in health and disease prevention, such as inflammatory intestinal pathologies and obesity. However, their bioactivity may be limited by their instability or low concentration in food matrices and along the gastrointestinal tract once consumed. This has led to the study of technological processing with the aim of optimizing phenolic compounds’ biological properties. In this sense, different extraction systems have been applied to vegetable sources for the purpose of obtaining enriched phenolic extracts such as PLE, MAE, SFE, and UAE. In addition, many in vitro and in vivo studies evaluating the potential mechanisms of these compounds have also been published. This review includes a case study of the Hibiscus genera as an interesting source of phenolic compounds. The main goal of this work is to describe: (a) phenolic compound extraction by designs of experiments (DoEs) applied to conventional and advanced systems; (b) the influence of the extraction system on the phenolic composition and, consequently, on the bioactive properties of these extracts; and (c) bioaccessibility and bioactivity evaluation of Hibiscus phenolic extracts. The results have pointed out that the most used DoEs were based on response surface methodologies (RSM), mainly the Box–Behnken design (BBD) and central composite design (CCD). The chemical composition of the optimized enriched extracts showed an abundance of flavonoids, as well as anthocyanins and phenolic acids. In vitro and in vivo studies have highlighted their potent bioactivity, with particular emphasis on obesity and related disorders. This scientific evidence establishes the Hibiscus genera as an interesting source of phytochemicals with demonstrated bioactive potential for the development of functional foods. Nevertheless, future investigations are needed to evaluate the recovery of the phenolic compounds of the Hibiscus genera with remarkable bioaccessibility and bioactivity.

Optimization of the Extraction of Antioxidant Compounds from Roselle Hibiscus Calyxes (Hibiscus sabdariffa), as a Source of Nutraceutical Beverages

“…High temperatures can decompose or modify thermosensitive bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and other antioxidants [ 36 ]. Also, very high temperatures can accelerate the co-extraction of other non-active components such as sugars and fiber; the antioxidant concentration in the extract would then decrease [ 37 ].…”

Evaluation of quality parameters and antioxidant activity of commercial melinjo (Gnetum gnemon) for functional food

“…According to Yang and team, phenolic content and antioxidant activity are important aspect as a source of functional food 36 . It was recently reported that phenolic compounds have the potential to be used to develop functional foods for obesity 37 . Better food processing techniques are essential to retain bioactive phenolic compounds 38 .…”

Organoleptic Quality Attributes of Three Different Types of Vegetable-Based Milk Analogs Supplemented with Hibiscus Oil

“…The interest of the people in upgrading health through more environmentally friendly methods has increased rapidly over the past decades, which has led to a lot of research into traditional therapies as resources of elements with biofunctional characteristics [1].…”

“…In particular, this is because various vegetable have long been widely used not only for nutritional purposes but also for medical purposes [1,2]. Therefore, these components extracted from various vegetable are recognized as a resource of important biofunctional components [1,2].…”

“…Fig. 1 summarized in detail the various biofunctional activities of hibiscus oil reported through many studies so far [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].…”