Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Bioactive Compounds
Summary
Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) harnesses high-frequency sound waves to promote the release of valuable phytochemicals from plant and microbial matrices. Acoustic cavitation—rapid formation and collapse of microscopic bubbles—generates localized high pressure and temperature gradients, disrupting cell walls and enhancing mass transfer. This technique delivers improved extraction yields in shorter times than conventional methods, often with reduced solvent consumption and energy input. Key parameters include ultrasound frequency and power, treatment time, temperature, solvent type and concentration, and solid-to-liquid ratio. UAE has been applied to recover antioxidants, pigments, lipids, polysaccharides and other bioactives from diverse sources such as flowers, seeds, fruit peels and agricultural residues. Its tunable conditions, combined with low environmental impact, support the green-processing paradigm, offering industrial scalability for food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors. Continued optimisation and integration with statistical design methods enable fine-tuning of extraction efficiency, selectivity and bioactivity preservation, underscoring UAE’s role in sustainable valorisation of biomass.
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Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Bioactive Compounds publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in ultrasound-assisted extraction of bioactive compounds across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Acoustic cavitation: Formation and implosion of microbubbles under ultrasonic waves, causing shear forces that disrupt cell structures.
Sonication: Application of ultrasonic energy to agitate particles in a sample, enhancing solvent penetration and mass transfer.
Response surface methodology (RSM): Statistical technique for modelling and optimising processes by evaluating interactions between multiple variables.
Total phenolic content (TPC): Measure of overall phenolic compound concentration in an extract, often determined by colourimetric assays.
References
- Optimization of ultrasonic assisted ethanolic extraction for natural pigments from butterfly pea flower applied in Thai dessert using Box-Behnken approach. Food Chemistry X (2024).
- Sonication, a Potential Technique for Extraction of Phytoconstituents: A Systematic Review. Processes (2021).
- Extraction of Antioxidant Phenolic Compounds from Brewer’s Spent Grain: Optimization and Kinetics Modeling. Antioxidants (2018).
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