Determination of Total Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of Rosmarinus officinalis L. via Microwave-Assisted Extraction

Due to the toxicity of synthetic antioxidants, their application has been limited or even banned in certain countries. The extraction of phenolic compounds and flavonoids from plant matrices is carried out utilizing a variety of solvents. The aim of this study is to determine the antioxidant activity and total phenolic and flavonoid composition of  Rosmarinus officinalis L., often referred to as rosemary. The study also examines the potential application of rosemary as a natural antioxidant in the food industry. The extraction technique in this study included maceration and microwave-assisted extraction. Maceration was chosen as the traditional extraction technique, while microwave-assisted extraction was used to reduce the extraction time and solvent volume. In both the traditional and microwave-assisted extraction methods, methanol was employed as a solvent. The total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, antioxidant activity, metal chelating ability, and beta-carotene and lycopene levels of the samples were determined. TPC yielded 40 and 43 mg/g, TFC yielded 12.4 and 20 mg/g, FRAP yielded 37 and 49 mg/g, and MCC yielded 133 and 134 mg/g, respectively, for conventional and microwave-assisted extraction methods. In comparison to the conventional technique, the microwave-assisted extraction method resulted in greater quantities of bioactive compounds. Additionally, rosemary's beta-carotene and lycopene contents were determined to be 8652 and 7849 mg/g dried plant, respectively. Microwave-assisted extraction was found to be more successful, quicker, and less solvent-intensive than the conventional method. Additionally, rosemary is suggested in the food sector as a natural antioxidant instead of a synthetic antioxidant to prevent health-damaging consequences.