OPTIMIZATION OF ULTRASOUND-ASSISTED EXTRACTION OF beta-CAROTENE FROM CHLORELLA BIOMASS (MCC7) AND ITS USE IN FORTIFICATION OF APPLE JAM

摘要

Ultrasound-assisted extraction with three independent variables (sonication time, ethanol concentration and sonication amplitude) was optimized by plotting response surface graphs with beta-carotene yield as the dependent variable. At optimum conditions (7.03 min extraction time, 62.03% ethanol concentration and 83.7% amplitude) beta-carotene yield of 55 mg/g of Chlorella biomass were obtained. The functional apple jam was prepared by fortifying it with the Chlorella extract at optimized conditions (5, 7.5 and 10 mg/100 g apple jam) and with whole Chlorella biomass powder (1, 2 and 3% w/w). The samples fortified with the beta-carotene extract had over 10 times more vitamin A content as compared with the samples to which whole Chlorella biomass were added. A comparative study of different forms and rate of fortification was carried out, and it was found that the extract added samples have higher nutritive value and overall acceptability as a functional food.