Green Extraction of Orange Peel Using Deep Eutectic Solvents Assisted by Ultrasound: Bioactivity Assessment and Compound Quantification

Alejandro Delgado-Cortez, Carlos Castillo-Zacarias, Isaías Juárez-Ramírez, Sergio Arturo Galindo-Rodríguez, Catalina Rivas-Morales, Catalina Leos-Rivas and Ezequiel Viveros-Valdez ()
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Alejandro Delgado-Cortez: Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Avda. Pedro de Alba S/N, San Nicolás de los Garza 66450, Mexico
Carlos Castillo-Zacarias: Departamento de Ingeniería Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza 66455, Mexico
Isaías Juárez-Ramírez: Departamento de Ecomateriales y Energía, Facultad de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza 66455, Mexico
Sergio Arturo Galindo-Rodríguez: Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Avda. Pedro de Alba S/N, San Nicolás de los Garza 66450, Mexico
Catalina Rivas-Morales: Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Avda. Pedro de Alba S/N, San Nicolás de los Garza 66450, Mexico
Catalina Leos-Rivas: Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Avda. Pedro de Alba S/N, San Nicolás de los Garza 66450, Mexico
Ezequiel Viveros-Valdez: Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Avda. Pedro de Alba S/N, San Nicolás de los Garza 66450, Mexico

Clean Technol., 2025, vol. 7, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Oranges are widely consumed worldwide and are highly valued both for their nutritional properties and their economic importance. In Mexico, particularly in the northeastern citrus-producing region, large amounts of peel are generated during industrial processing, representing a significant source of agro-industrial waste. This byproduct is naturally rich in compounds of interest, including flavonoids, polyphenols, and pectin, which motivates the development of sustainable recovery strategies. In this work, orange peel biomass was valorized using ultrasound-assisted extraction in combination with deep eutectic solvents (DESs). Among the evaluated formulations, the choline chloride–lactic acid DES at a 1:10 molar ratio produced the highest overall extraction yield (43.88% by dry weight/mass). The 2:1 formulation, however, was the most efficient for the recovery of phenolic compounds, reaching 4.12 mg GAE/g, and exhibited the greatest antioxidant activity (2.55 mmol Trolox/g) and the strongest antimicrobial response against clinically relevant microorganisms. This same DES ratio enabled the highest quantification of key phenolics such as naringin (1150.29 µg/g), caffeic acid (139.41 µg/g), and ferulic acid (379.96 µg/g). For polysaccharide extraction, the 1:1 DES ratio was the most effective, achieving a pectin yield of 48.24%. Overall, the findings demonstrate that DES, particularly when combined with ultrasound, offers a green and efficient approach for the integrated recovery of pectin, phenolic antioxidants, and antimicrobial compounds from citrus byproducts, contributing to environmentally sustainable biorefinery strategies.

Keywords: green technique; ultrasound; deep eutectic solvent; polyphenols; antioxidants; antimicrobial activation; pectin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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