Preliminary extraction of catechin in cashew testa

Abstract

The water extraction procedure (WE) was critically selected to extract (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin in cashew testa. The effects of different extracting factors, including multiple extraction, extracting temperature, extracting duration, and solvent-material ratio, on catechin amounts were evaluated. Under optimal conditions, a gram of water extract (WE') contained 151.2 4.7 mg of (+)-catechin and 85.2 2.3 mg of (-)-epicatechin. These values were nearly three-folded compared to raw material, 55.0 1.4 and 31.0 0.6 mg, respectively. By using fractional extraction with ethyl acetate, the amounts of (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin per gram of ethyl acetate extract (WE2) in the present extracts respectively increased to 219.4 16.5 and 123.6 8.9 mg.