Process Efficiency and Energy Consumption during the Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Bioactive Substances from Hawthorn Berries

This study investigated the impact of sonication parameters on the efficiency of the extraction of bioactive substances from hawthorn berries. The ultrasonic treatment was performed in two modes: continuous and pulse. In the pulse mode, the samples were sonicated with the following processor settings: 1 s on-2 s off. The effective ultrasonic processor times were 5, 10, and 15 min, and the total extraction times were 15 min, 30 min, and 45 min. The content of total polyphenols and total anthocyanins was determined by a spectrophotometric method. We show that the operating mode of the processor affects extraction efficiency, energy consumption and unit energy inputs. Extraction supported by a pulsating ultrasonic field allowed saving from 20% to 51% of energy with a simultaneous higher efficiency of the process. In addition, we show that the unit energy consumption in the pulsed mode was about 40% to 68% lower than the energy consumption in the case of continuous operation