A novel ecological extraction strategy for recovering phenolics from Solanum lycopersicum residue by combined steam explosion and enzymatic hydrolysis

Abstract

This study describes the controlled release of phenolic compounds from residue gleaned from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) stems. These were pretreated by steam explosion under various conditions, including pressure, residence time and particle size, before undergoing solid–liquid separation. The solid fraction was subjected to Soxhlet extraction and two methods of enzymatic hydrolysis A and B. Such enzymatic treatment B combined with steam explosion of 3.07 severity on particle size under 250 µm increased the amount of phenolic content obtained from 2.0 to 21.0 mg GAE/g, while flavonoid content rose from 2.6 to 8.0 mg RE/g. The liquid fraction yielded up to 18 mg GAE/g of phenolics and 4 mg RE/g of flavonoids. Spectroscopic determination and morphological analysis confirmed that heightened pressures and reduced particle sizes promoted matrix disruption and compound release. These findings show that steam explosion-assisted extraction constitutes a promising and sustainable strategy for the valorization of agricultural tomato residues.