19-08-2014, 11:39 AM
Ferulic acid is a naturally occurring phenolic acid in the plant kingdom. It exists in plant resources either free form or covalently bound with various biopolymers, such as polysaccharide and lignin compounds by ester bonds and ether bond respectively. Ferulic acid shows many physiological properties such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory etc.
Ferulic acid is a naturally occurring phenolic acid in the plant kingdom. It exists in plant resources either free form or covalently bound with various biopolymers, such as polysaccharide and lignin compounds by ester bonds and ether bond respectively. Ferulic acid shows many physiological properties such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory etc.
The present work was undertaken with following objectives- I) screening of various plant sources of ferulic acid, using extraction technique and optimization of extraction parameters using statistical design and II) downstream processing of ferulic acid.
Various agricultural wastes such as wheat bran, wheat straw, rice bran, rice husk, maize bran, sugar cane bagasse, pomegranate peels etc. screened for ferulic acid content by alkaline extraction technique.
The qualitative analysis of ferulic acid was done by thin layer chromatography. The maximum amount of ferulic acid is found in maize bran. The extraction of ferulic acid is affected by temperature, normality of NaOH and time. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of various parameters on extraction of ferulic acid. Optimization of method for ferulic acid determination by HPLC was done.
Biotransformation of ferulic acid into vanillin using basidiomycetes Pycnoporous cinnabarius was studied. Biotransformation studies related to optimization of pH, carbon source and nitrogen source are also attempted. Further purification studies of ferulic acid were carried out using polyadsorbant resins.