Effect of Extraction Conditions on the Total Phenolic Yield of Madhuca longifolia Leaves and Evaluation of Its Physico-chemical and Antioxidant Properties

Madhuca longifolia is a traditional medicinal plant used in the treatment of several diseases including cancer in Indian system of medicine. Even though the chemical composition, bioactive principles and medicinal value of M. longifolia leaf have investigated earlier, the extraction of phytochemical compounds is not yet optimized, because preparation of extract will be of great importance as it could be used in several herbal formulations to treat variety of diseases. In the present study, we have employed different solvents (Hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol, ethanol and water) and different extraction conditions and also applied to optimize the extraction of phytochemicals from M. longifolia leaves. Effect of different solvent concentrations (50, 75 & 100%), extraction time (30, 75 and 120 min) and extraction temperature (30, 50 & 70C) on the phenolic yield was evaluated using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Methanol was the suitable solvent to yield maximum phenolic content (6744.24 mg GAE/100 g). Maximum yield of total phenols (7755 mg GAE/100 g) was achieved under the optimal conditions such as extraction temperature (50C), extraction time (88 min) and solvent concentration (88%). Analysis of physicochemical properties indicated that the methanolic extract of M. longifolia possesses acceptable sensory qualities with low water solubility (36%). Analysis of antioxidant activity in terms of DPPH radical scavenging potential indicated that the methanolic extract of M. longifolia (62.45 mg/L) was stronger when compared to other medicinal plants. Extraction of phenolic compounds with strong antioxidant power from M. longifolia was optimized in the present work, which could be useful to incorporate it in the development of novel herbal formulations. In this direction, the presently optimized conditions will be helpful for their large-scale extraction for industrial applications.