ABSTRACT
In addition to primary metabolites, plants produce a broad range of bioactive compounds of secondary metabolites and these phytochemicals have been determined to be beneœcial to human health (Pathak, 2011). There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these phytochemicals that have a beneœcial effect on the body, effects such as antioxidant activity, boosting the immune system, anti-in“ammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, and cellular repair. As a result, the incorporation of these compounds into nutraceutical and functional foods has grown signiœcantly throughout the world as consumers seek to utilize more natural substances to reduce the risk of disease as well as for prevention and treatment (Pathak, 2011). Natural antioxidants are preferred over synthetic antioxidants as they are found to impose side effects (Krishnaiah et al., 2007). This interest in the œeld of antioxidants in recent years and research efforts have led to a better understanding of the mechanisms involved and in the application areas in both food and nonfood commodities as well as in biological systems and as dietary supplements. Therefore, the extraction and puriœcation of these compounds has become an area of increased focus to enable maximum yield and to preserve the bioactivity and quality.
