Study on optimization of extraction conditions for polysaccharide from pomegranate flowers and its antioxidant activities

Pomegranate flowers as row material were used for extraction polysaccharide with hot water. On the basis of single factor experiments,the optimized extraction conditions for polysaccharides were determined by using response surface methodology through the Box-Behnken design. The optional conditions were as follows:extraction time 4 hours,temperature 76℃,ratio of raw material to solvent 1∶52. Under the conditions,the yield of6.35% was obtained by the verification experiment. And the polysaccharides from pomegranate flowers showed moderate reducing power,strong clearance rate of nitrite(NO2-) and super oxygen free radical(O2-)and the ability to chelate metal ions,and the antioxidant activity of polysaccharides increased with the improvement of the polysaccharide concentration.