Highlights

Bioactivity & extraction yield greatly enhanced with severity factor.

Antioxidant activity found to be highly correlated with TP than it does with TF.

CO₂ addition may facilitate hydrolysis and increased water solvating power.

HT-Extract hindered growth of breast cancer cell with a lesser effect on normal cell.

Abstract

Defatted sesame meal (DSM) is a source rich in glycosylated lignans and bioactive compounds. Hydrothermal (HT) processes with and without added CO₂ were applied to recover these bioactive compounds. The extractions were performed from 120 to 180 °C with a solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:20 (w/w). The bioactivities, expressed in terms of the total phenol (TP) and total flavonoid (TF) contents in the HT extracts were enhanced 5- and 2.5-fold, respectively. The addition of CO₂ enabled the recovery of more bioactive compounds with better antioxidant activities than those obtained using conventional extraction methods. In-vitro antioxidant and anticancer effects were evaluated for both the HT extracts and conventional extracts, where promising anticancer activity was observed with little effect on normal cells.