Extraction of anthocyanin pigments from purple sunflower hulls

The anthocyanin pigments in hulls of purple sunflower seeds were extracted using three solvent systems, 50:1:49 ethanol-acetic acid-water (EAW), 0.01 M acetic acid (AAc), or water containing SO2. Solvent, extraction time, size of ground hulls, pH of extracting solvent, hulls/solvent ratio, and concentration of SO2 in water, were investigated. All were significant factors affecting yield of extracted anthocyanins. EAW and SO2 were more effective extractants than AAc. Optimum conditions from response surface optimization for the extraction with sulphurous water were: SO2 at 200 mg/L, hull size 20 mesh, extraction time 5 min at 22(d)egrees C, and solvent/hulls ratio = 20.