A microwave assisted extraction technique was developed to optimize the extraction of mucilage from the fruits of Lagenaria siceraria plant. The plant has been extracted by conventional and microwave assisted methods for the isolation of mucilage. Microwave extraction at 320 W intensity and 20 min heating duration, 96.15% increase in the yield of mucilage while 93.95% and 91.20% increase in the yield at 160 W for 60 min and 480 W for 10 min respectively were obtained under microwave irradiation when compared to 1 h conventional heating method. The products obtained by both the methods were of similar nature chemically. The developed microwave procedure can be used successfully in commercial and routine laboratory isolation of mucilage.
