Isolation, identification and application of special bioactive plant components

Complete text of publication follows. The wide application of natural and bioactive compounds has became a central issue in the last years. The use of these materials as food additives can be advantageous in several aspects: their natural origin, health protecting properties, possibility for combination of beneficial physiological properties and the recognition and exploitation of synergetic properties can be used in the production of wide range of functional food products. The main objective of the work is - to compare the efficiency of extraction procedures used to obtain different bioactive compounds from different plants, - to identify bioactive components, - to examine the biological activity and bioavailability of the isolated compounds, - to separate and purify the active substances, - to examine the possibility to use these components as functional food additives, - (optimal retrieval, stability, interactions with the food matrix, bio-accessibility). We have examined carrot, purple corn, red cabbage, red pepper, garlic and sea buckthorn extracts. The extraction was carried out with seven different solvents (ethanol: acetic acid:water, acetone, ethanol, n-hexane, ethyl-acetate and hot water). The analysis of the different extraction methods showed that hot water and ethanol were the most efficient solvents, while ethyl-acetate and n-hexane were less effective. The antioxidant activities were determined by FRAP and DPPH methods, antioxidant activities were found to be high in case of garlic and purple corn, while carrot showed lower activity. The components of the extracts were identified by HPLC-MS technique; three unique components were identified in carrot, eleven components in purple corn and nine components in red cabbage. The expected bioavailability and utilization of the components were determined with the application of digestion models: 1 gram of the sample was shaken for 4 hours with 25 ml 0.01 M NaCl solution containing 1 gram pepsin at pH=2.0 in a 37 deg C bath. The origin of the plants has not affected the composition of the extracts and we have found differences in different plant parts only in case of the red cabbage. After optimization of the extraction procedure of the identified components in higher amounts and assuring the maximum stability and revealing the possible transformation pathways, it will be possible to use them in functional food products and to the examination of producing technologies and the matrix effect influencing the bioactivity.