Different parts of a plant (seeds, fruits, flower, leaves, stem, and roots) contain numerous biologically active compounds called “phytoconstituents” that consist of phenolics, minerals, amino acids, and vitamins. The conventional techniques applied to extract these phytoconstituents have several drawbacks including poor performance, low yields, more solvent use, long processing time, and thermally degrading by-products. In contrast, modern and advanced extraction nonthermal technologies such as pulsed electric field (PEF) assist in easier and efficient identification, characterization, and analysis of bioactive ingredients. Other advantages of PEF include cost-efficacy, less time, and solvent consumption with improved yields. This review covers the applications of PEF to obtain bioactive components, essential oils, proteins, pectin, and other important materials from various parts of the plant. Numerous studies compiled in the current evaluation concluded PEF as the best solution to extract phytoconstituents used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. PEF-assisted extraction leads to a higher yield, utilizes less solvents and energy, and it saves a lot of time compared to traditional extraction methods. PEF extraction design should be safe and efficient enough to prevent the degradation of phytoconstituents and oils.

Pumpkin is a well-known multifunctional ingredient in the diet, full of nutrients, and has opened new vistas for scientists during the past years. The fruit of pumpkin including the flesh, seed, and peel are a rich source of primary and secondary metabolites, including proteins, carbohydrates, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, tocopherols, tryptophan, delta-7-sterols, and many other phytochemicals. This climber is traditionally used in many countries, such as Austria, Hungary, Mexico, Slovenia, China, Spain, and several Asian and African countries as a functional food and provides health promising properties. Other benefits of pumpkin, such as improving spermatogenesis, wound healing, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, anti-ulcerative properties, and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia have also been confirmed by researchers. For better drug delivery, nanoemulsions and niosomes made from pumpkin seeds have also been reported as a health promising tool, but further research is still required in this field. This review mainly focuses on compiling and summarizing the most relevant literature to highlight the nutritional value, phytochemical potential, and therapeutic benefits of pumpkin.

Products from natural sources are being used from thousands of years. Banana is famous for its traditional, medicinal, and nutritional uses. It is rich in carbohydrates (22.84 g/100 g), provides energy about 370 kJ/100 g and it is considered to be one of the best sources of potassium (358 mg/100 g) that fulfils 8% of the daily recommended value. Along with the unique nutritional profile, banana possesses excellent medicinal properties. Banana is one of those fruits whose all parts could be processed, including its flesh and peel like banana chips, banana powder, banana biscuits, and most commonly banana juice.

Traditional extraction techniques have lost their optimum performance because of rising consumer demand and novel technologies. In this regard, several techniques were developed by humans for the extraction of plant materials from various indigenous sources, which are no longer in use. Many of the techniques are not efficient enough to extract maximum plant material. By this time, evolution in extraction has led to development of various techniques including microfiltration, pulsed electric fields, high pressure, microwave assistance, enzyme assistance, supercritical fluid, subcritical fluid and ultrasonication. These innovations in food processing/extraction are known as “Green Food Processing”. These technologies were basically developed by focusing on three universal parameters: simplicity, energy efficiency and economy. These green technologies are practical in a number of different food sectors, mostly for preservation, inhibition of microorganisms, inactivation of enzymes and extraction of plant material. Like the others, ultrasonication could also be used for the said purposes. The primary objective of this review is to confine the potential use of ultrasonication for extraction of oils, pectin and phytochemicals by reviewing the literature systematically.

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are potent carcinogenic compounds induced by the Maillard reaction in well-done cooked meats. Free amino acids, protein, creatinine, reducing sugars and nucleosides are major precursors involved in the production of polar and non-polar HAAs. The variety and yield of HAAs are linked with various factors such as meat type, heating time and temperature, cooking method and equipment, fresh meat storage time, raw material and additives, precursor’s presence, water activity, and pH level. For the isolation and identification of HAAs, advanced chromatography and spectroscopy techniques have been employed. These potent mutagens are the etiology of several types of human cancers at the ng/g level and are 100- to 2000-fold stronger than that of aflatoxins and benzopyrene, respectively. This review summarizes previous studies on the formation and types of potent mutagenic and/or carcinogenic HAAs in cooked meats. Furthermore, occurrence, risk assessment, and factors affecting HAA formation are discussed in detail. Additionally, sample extraction procedure and quantification techniques to determine these compounds are analyzed and described. Finally, an overview is presented on the promising strategy to mitigate the risk of HAAs by natural compounds and the effect of plant extracts containing antioxidants to reduce or inhibit the formation of these carcinogenic substances in cooked meats.

Polyphenols are natural antioxidants and play a very vital role in inhibition of oxidative stress as induced by free radicals in the body. Apple and pomegranate peels are significant agro-industrial wastes. The waste could be utilized to extract polyphenols for processing various functional foods and nutraceuticals. An investigation was executed for extraction of polyphenols from apple and pomegranate peels by sonication and maceration. Three different polar solvents: methanol, ethanol, and acetone were used in the study at two different concentrations (50% and 75%). Yield (%), total polyphenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay were performed. The extracts were then utilized in processing functional date bars with 2% and 3% concentrations. The results from the current study articulated that extraction from sonication yields higher quantity of polyphenols than that of maceration technique. The highest polyphenols were extracted at acetone 75% (44.71 mg GAE/g) in apple peel and at methanol 50% (72.21 mg GAE/g) in pomegranate peel. The results also revealed that pomegranate peel has higher polyphenols and greater radical scavenging activity as compared to apple peel. It was concluded that apple and pomegranate peel polyphenolic extract fortified date bars could be utilized as a preventive therapeutic agent against certain oxidative stress degenerative diseases.