Natural
deep eutectic solvents (NADES) based on choline chloride
and organic acids were applied for the recovery of phenolic compounds
from three agro-industrial residues: pomegranate peels, almond hulls,
and elderberry pomace. Box–Behnken designs were conducted to
reach the best extraction conditions, which were 50 °C, 20 min,
and 20 w/w NADES/solid for pomegranate peels, 30 °C, 60 min,
and 20 w/w NADES/solid for almond hulls, and 40 °C, 60 min, and
30 w/w NADES/solid for elderberry pomace. Punicalagin was the major
phenolic in the NADES-based pomegranate extract, with a concentration
about 87% higher than that found in the ethanolic extract obtained
under the same conditions. The same was valid for (+)-catechin, a
major phenolic in almond extracts, and cyanidin-3-sambubioside, a
major anthocyanin in elderberry extracts, with concentrations around
27 and 68% higher in the NADES extracts, respectively. These findings
show that the extraction of valuable compounds from agro-industrial
waste using NADES was improved with accuracy during ultrasound-assisted
extractions.