Application of Response Surface Methodology to Optimize Microwave-assisted Extraction of Polysaccharide from Tremella

Tremella is an excellent source of polysaccharides. In this study, microwave-assisted extraction was employed to extract polysaccharides from Tremella with water. By using response surface methodology, the effects of microwave output power, extraction time, and solid-liquid ratio on polysaccharide yield were investigated and the optimal conditions were determined as follows: extraction time 60 s, microwave output power 750 w, liquid-solid ratio 20. The average experimental polysaccharide yield under the optimum conditions was found to be 65.07±0.99%, which agreed with the predicted value of 69.07%.