Chapter 11. Recent Trends and Perspectives for the Extraction of Natural Products

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss the most recent trends and perspectives on the extraction of natural products, considering: (i) the natural-origin extracts/target compounds that are currently being more studied and extracted (as well as their potential applications); (ii) the most recently extracted vegetable raw materials that can be explored as sources for the envisaged target compounds; (iii) the current and most promising strategies regarding the extraction methodologies that are expected to be further developed and utilized in the extraction of natural products; and (iv) the novel/alternative solvents, solvent mixtures, and extraction additives that could be beneficially used in the above-referred extraction methodologies. The most used natural-origin raw materials to obtain the foreseen natural products were terrestrial plant-origin raw materials. In addition, there was a greater interest in the extraction from plant residues/wastes, from marine organisms, and micro-organisms. In terms of the most used natural product extraction methods, supercritical fluid extraction methods seem to keep the interest of researchers. In contrast, other methods, such as ultrasound, microwave, pressurized-liquid, sorptive, and combined/hyphenated extraction techniques, have gained more attention in recent decades. Finally, there has also been observed a recent interest in using novel extraction solvents and bio-solvents (or their mixtures) that may improve process safety and sustainability and/or improve extraction yields, selectivity, and stability of the target compounds. Moreover, it is expected that the observed trends will be maintained in the near future as they were motivated mainly by current consumer demands and by safety, environmental, and regulatory issues.