Abstract:

Ferulic acid (FA) and p-coumaric acids are phenolic antioxidants present in a variety of plants, which have been widely used in food and cosmetic industries and others. Massive work has been reported to obtain both acids from agricultural waste such as maize bran, rice bran, wheat bran, wheat straw, sugar cane bagasse, pineapple peels, orange peels, and pomegranate peels. With the aim to provide useful knowledge for high value-added utilization of agricultural and forest fibrous by-products, particularly cereal bran in China, this paper briefly introduces the physiological functions of both acids and their applications in various industries and stressly summarizes recent achievements in the investigation of their preparation process consisting of acid pretreatment, alkaline hydrolysis, separation, purification and identification.

Key words: ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, physiological function, application, alkaline preparation