Simultaneous microwave-assisted solid–liquid extraction of polar and nonpolar compounds from alperujo Original Research Article

Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) has been used for the simultaneous isolation of polar and nonpolar compounds from alperujo using methanol–water and n-hexane as extractant system. Multivariate methodology has been used to establish the optimum extraction conditions. The target fractions (phenol compounds and fatty acids) were quantitatively extracted within 14 min. Following leaching and separation of the two phases by centrifugation, the polar and nonpolar fractions were analysed by HPLC–MS–MS and GC–MS, respectively. The proposed method was compared with the reference method for the isolation of each fraction (Folch method and stirring-based method for fatty acids and biophenols extraction, respectively) in terms of efficiency and extract composition. The paramount importance of both fractions, the simplicity of the MAE approach and the low costs of the raw material make advisable the implementation of the proposed method at an industrial scale.