RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 33 (2) June 2021, p. 320-326

METHANOLIC EXTRACTION OF FREE FERULIC ACID FROM OIL PALM

NG MEI HAN*

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2020.0097
Received: 14 July 2020   Accepted: 9 September 2020   Published Online: 6 November 2020
ABSTRACT

Ferulic acid, a hydroxycinnamic acid, is known to exhibit anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, making it a valuable compound for various applications. Study was conducted to investigate the extraction of free ferulic acid (ferulic acid that is not linked to lignin or other biopolymers) in the oil palm fruits, pressed fibre, empty fruit bunches, as well as its leaves, termed as frond. The extraction of free ferulic acid from these palm components was carried out using an alcoholic solution at various sample to solvent ratios. With the exception of fresh sterilised fruits, varying the sample to solvent ratio did not seem to have significant effect on the amount of ferulic acid extracted. Similarly, except for empty fruit bunch and sterilised fruits, the amount of ferulic acid extracted was not affected by the conditions of the samples (fresh or dried) prior to extraction. The free ferulic acid content in oil palm fruits, pressed fibre, empty fruit bunches and oil palm frond ranged from 230-670 mg kg-1.

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* Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
E-mail: meihan@mpob.gov.my