Comparison of extraction methods for chemical composition, antibacterial, depigmenting and antioxidant activities of Eryngium maritimum

The objective is to develop a natural cosmetic ingredient from Eryngium maritimum regarding the high interest of consumer in these ingredients for cosmetic use.

Five eco‐friendly techniques of extraction were applied to Eryngium maritimum aerial parts among conventional reflux extraction (with green solvent) and alternative techniques (supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), microwave‐assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasound‐assisted extraction (UAE) and ultrasound combined with microwave extraction (UAE + MAE)). Several criteria were evaluated to allow the optimal choice for an industrialized ingredient: yield of extraction, chemical composition and biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti‐collagenase and anti‐tyrosinase activities. The extracts were analysed by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‐HRMS), and the hierarchical Pearson classification (HCA) allowed to highlight the group of metabolites preferably extracted depending on the technique of extraction used.

The biological results highlight that SFE and 80% ethanol reflux extracts have the best responses to biological activities such as antimicrobial, depigmenting and antioxidant activities, followed by water reflux extraction. Their activities might be due to the presence of different groups of metabolites favourably extracted by these techniques.

Among these extractions, water reflux extraction provided the optimal results considering the compromise between extraction yield and biological activities for the development of a cosmetic ingredient.