## 4 Discussion
### Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity
Currently, there is no suggested solvent for the best recovery of phytochemicals, due to their diverse chemical characteristics and polarities, which may affect their solubility in a particular solvent. Phenolic compounds are usually extracted with organic solvents, referred to as conventional solvents, such as methanol, acetone, benzene, chloroform, petroleum ether, and hexane [47]. However, they are frequently rejected because of their flammability, explosiveness, low biodegradability, and toxicity to the final consumer. Green technologies are being tested, with a focus on efficacy and efficiency, increasing productivity, enhancing process selectivity, and reducing energy use. Alternative solvents, such as ionic liquid(IL) solvents, deep eutectic solvents (DESs), and natural eutectic solvents (NADESs), are a different option for this problem [47]. Just as with TPC, certain factors are observed with reference to the total flavonoid content (TFC). The profile of TFC extractive capacity recovery followed the same pattern as phenolics, with higher contents in hydroalcoholic extract (768.7 mg CAE/100 g), followed by aqueous (428.4 mg CAE/100 g) and ethanolic (235 mg CAE/100 g) extracts, respectively. Our study has demonstrated that, on average, the total flavonoid concentration is always lower than the total phenolic concentration. These results contradict those reported by [PERSON] et al. [5] and [PERSON] et al. [48], which reported higher amounts of flavonoids in most of the baobab pulp extracts. However, our results are in accordance with other studies [15; 45]. [PERSON] et al. [15] reported TFC in baobab pulp of 31.70 \(\pm\) 3.35 mg QE/100 g and 42.73 \(\pm\) 0.46 mg QE/100 g, using methanol and acetone solvents, respectively, while total phenolic contents were significantly higher in both solvents (3518.33 and 4057.50 mg GAE/100 g, respectively). Furthermore, fruit ripening is a multifaceted, genetically engineered process that results in notable alterations regarding color, texture, flavor, and chemical composition. [PERSON] et al. [49] observed a reduction in phenolic and flavonoid concentrations during the development and maturation of baobab fruit. Despite the above, in general, flavonoid content remains understudied, and the few studies that have described their content levels used different solvents. The antioxidant activity of baobab fruit pulp extracts was assessed using the free radical scavenging capacity (DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\)) and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The values observed in both antioxidant activity assays were directly related to the bioactive contents obtained in each extract evaluated. Regarding the DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) assay, scavenging capacity ranged from 1189.3 to 7288.2 mg Trolox/100 g for alcoholic and hydalcoholic extracts, respectively. In the FRAP assay, the hydroalcoholic extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (2736.7 umol FSE/100 g), followed by the aqueous and alcoholic extracts (1477.8 and 199.2 umol FSE/100 g, respectively). [PERSON] et al. [4] reported lower DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) values for baobab pulp extracts from Malawi and South Africa, ranging from 721.78 mg Trolox/100 g (ethanol) to 2089.76 mg Trolox/100 g (hydroalcoholic). Our results showed significant differences (\(p\leq 0.05\)) in both antioxidant assays in aqueous, hydroalcoholic, and alcoholic extracts. To summarize, the antioxidant activity of baobab fruit extracts is related to total polyphenic concentrations, and this was additionally found in our investigation. [PERSON]'s correlation was calculated, as polyphenols are predominantly responsible for antioxidant activity. TFC, FRAP, and DPPH all had exceptionally positive correlation coefficients with TPC, of 0.893, 0.991, and 0.836, respectively. Furthermore, the correlations between FRAP and DPPH relative to TFC were 0.980 and 0.941, respectively. Our results suggest that flavonoid contents contribute more to the overall antioxidant activity.