Ronald Leon Prior

US Patent:

8337909, Dec 25, 2012

Filed:

Jun 4, 2010

Appl. No.:

12/794444

Inventors:

Luke R. Howard - West Fork AR, US
Brittany L. White - Fayetteville AR, US
Ronald L. Prior - Searcy AR, US

Assignee:

Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville AR

International Classification:

A61K 36/00
A61K 36/45
A61K 36/54
A61K 36/87
A61K 36/73
A61K 36/82

US Classification:

424725, 424732, 424739, 424766, 424729

Abstract:

A process of extracting procyanidins by alkaline hydrolysis. In particular, a procyanidin-containing material, pomace or residue is treated with an alkali, such as sodium or potassium hydroxide, for a predetermined amount of time and at a predetermined temperature to release procyanidins bound to polysaccharides and/or proteins of the cell wall or depolymerize polymeric procyanidins. After the procyanidins are released by alkaline hydrolysis, the extracts are acidified to obtain a pH level where the procyanidins do not degrade. The process of extracting procyanidins may be utilized to estimate the total amount of bound procyanidins in a plant material, enhance the bioavailability of beneficial procyanidins monomers and/or to treat the residue remaining after conventional solvent extraction for increased procyanidin extraction.