Statistical Analysis of Solvent Polarity Effects on Phytochemicals Extraction: Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) Approach

Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was used in this study to statistically analyze the nature of the relationship between the polarity of extraction solvents and the type of phytochemicals extracted from mushroom caps using solvents with different polarity. The caps of three mushrooms (Enoki, Buna shimeji, and Bunapi shimeji) were extracted with four solvents of varying polarities (water, methanol, acetone, and ethyl acetate). The phytochemical content of the extracts was identified using UPLC-QTOF, followed by coding of the compounds and the subsequent MCA using SPSS (R) version 22. The MCA showed a positive correlation between the extraction solvents and the phytochemicals extracted from the mushrooms. A positive correlation of r = 0.322 was observed between the identified phytochemicals and the solvents used during the extraction process. The pattern of the phytochemicals clustering suggested that solvent polarity differentiated the groups of phytochemicals extractable from the mushrooms. It is, therefore, concluded that MCA is a valid statistical tool for the determination of the relationship between solvent polarity and the types of phytochemicals extracted using such solvents.