Formulation of Polyphenol basal emulsions from agrowaste for potential applications in food and pharmaceutics

Agrowaste materials are the most plenteous and the cheapest sources of bioactive compounds. Industries across the globe are keen on fortification and value addition of almost all essential goods for human welfare. Under such circumstances, there is great scope for isolation of valuable compounds from agrowaste sources and use them as additives in foods and health supplements. The current study dealt with estimation and quantification of polyphenols from the agrowaste (peels, rinds and shells) of some selected and more commonly used food crops in South India such as Banana, Cassava, Garlic, Jackfruit, Lemon, Passion fruit, Rice and Tamarind. Both conventional (cold extraction - CE) and non-conventional methods (microwave assisted extraction- MAE and Ultrasound assisted extraction-UAE) of extraction were adopted during the preliminary assessment as well as during the standardization procedures. The materials used and methods were screened for their efficiency. It was noted that among the chosen materials, Tamarind shell had the highest quantity of polyphenols. CE was identified as a better choice. An extraction protocol could be standardized for the efficient extraction of Polyphenols from Tamarind shells. Subsequently, a nanoemulsion of extracted polyphenols was prepared and characterized. The characterization parameters disclose the merits of the nanoemulsions for possible applications in food and pharma industries. The results emphasize the benefit of designing cost-effective strategies for the recovery of essential biomolecules from agrowaste and utilize them for valorization of utilitarian goods.