Optimization of microwave-assisted extraction of carbohydrates from industrial waste of corn starch production using response surface methodology

Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was applied for production of carbohydrates mainly consisting of arabinoxylan from corn pericarp which is an industrial waste of corn starch production by using hot compressed water as a solvent. The solubilization rate increased with increase in heating temperature and reached 75.2% at 220 °C. The main extracted materials were carbohydrates consist of glucose, xylose and arabinose indicating solubilization of starch and hemicellulose, while residues were composed of cellulose. Four independent variables (heating temperature, come-up time, heating time and solid to liquid ratio) were optimized for maximizing the carbohydrates yield using the response surface methodology including fractional factorial design, the path of steepest ascent and central composite design. The optimized condition was as follows; heating temperature 176.5 °C, come-up time 2 min, heating time 16 min and solid to liquid ratio 1/20 (g/mL), respectively. The maximal yield attained 70.8% of carbohydrates with predominant production of xylo-oligosaccharides.