An investigation into the antioxidant activity of a cider yeast extract with the aim of process optimisation

摘要

Cider and/or beer lees has normally either been used as low cost animal feed or been disposed of at great cost. A higher value use for the yeast was therefore sought. This has been developed with the use of environmentally friendly subcritical water extraction. Results have shown that the extract contains anti-oxidant activity using two separate anti-oxidant assays, with a large improvement in activity above a process temperature of 200 °C. This is due in large part to an increase in the concentration of phenolic compounds in the extract. As a result of this, a refined extract was produced using supercritical CO2 that improved anti-oxidant activity compared to the crude extract. The anti-oxidant activity of the 200°C and refined extract has also been demonstrated using the comet assay in cells with the performance of the extracts being comparable to that of Trolox. The rheological stability of a number of cosmetic formulations incorporating the extract has also been tested with 2 of the 4 formulations being stable. However, colour change issues have been observed with all four formulations tested. Overall, a novel and biologically effective extract has been produced using data from anti-oxidant assays to improve activity of the extract.