Abstract
Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to predict optimum conditions for microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of crude water-soluble polysaccharides from Piteguo fruit (PTG). A central composite design was used to optimize microwave power (X1: 400 – 600 W), extraction time (X2: 5 – 10 min) and ratio of water to material (W/M ratio, X3: 30:1 – 50:1 mL/g) to obtain a high crude polysaccharides yield. The statistical analyses indicated that all of the three factors had significant effect on the extraction yield of crude polysaccharides (p < 0.001). The results showed that the extraction ratio of crude polysaccharides was up to 7.86% under the optimum extraction conditions as follows: microwave power 550 W, extraction time 9 min, W/M ratio 45 mL/g, which was consistent with the predicted models with the coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.9809.
