Effect of Solvent Polarity on the Extraction Yield of Antioxidants from Lactobacillus Supernatants

There is increasing evidence to suggest that the Lactobacilli species possess antioxidant activities, however, thereare a few reports of optimization of solvent systems for the separation of their antioxidant compounds by thin-layerchromatography. In the current study, we explore the efficiency of four organic solvents (aqueous, methanol, ethylacetate, and n-hexane) for the extraction of antioxidant materials from Lactobacillus supernatants. According to theresults, methanol extraction significantly increased the antioxidant properties of Lactobacillus supernatants. Inaddition, the methanol extract of Lactobacillus supernatants was fractionated using thin-layer chromatography(TLC). A solvent system consisting of methanol/chloroform is a promising approach for TLC analysis ofLactobacillus supernatant. The partial purification of the antioxidant components using thin-layer chromatographydemonstrated a drastic rise in the antibacterial and antioxidant properties in comparison to the crude methanol extractof the same sample. In this study, the TLC fractionation of Lactobacillus extracellular materials was described forthe first time. Further isolation and purification are essential to identify these bioactive compounds.