Abstract
Apple pomace, a byproduct of juice production, is a rich source of bioactive compounds and nutrients. Supercritical fluid extraction was proposed as a method for a fast and selective extraction of hydrophobic compounds with a pharmaceutical potential from this matrix. Chromatographic analysis showed that the pomace contained significant amounts of such substances, the most abundant of them were ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, and β-sitosterol. The solubility was chosen as a primary factor for a selection of the extraction conditions; the best results were acquired for a temperature of 80 °C and a pressure of 30 MPa. The equation proposed by Chrastil was applied for the description of the impact of the process parameters on the solubility of the analytes; the obtained values of coefficients of determination were satisfactory, despite the fact that the equation was developed for binary systems. The extraction curves obtained during the experiments were used for the description of the process kinetics using the Broken plus Intact Cell model. The impact of the temperature, pressure, and flow rate of carbon dioxide on the mass transfer phenomena was investigated. The data obtained allowed the prediction of the extraction curve for the process conducted on the larger scale.
Highlights
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is an alternative for processes of extraction using organic solvents of a low polarity
The authors of the review noticed that the vast majority of SFE studies had concerned only production of the extracts and their characterization
Despite the fact that knowledge about the kinetics of the extraction is essential for a practical implementation of the process, in most of the studies only a selection of optimal conditions was performed
Summary
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is an alternative for processes of extraction using organic solvents of a low polarity. Supercritical fluids have been implemented for processing of food industry waste products; these applications include isolation of nutrients, biodiesel production, and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials [2]. A recent review by de Melo et al [3] reports the extraction of more than 300 plant species with supercritical carbon dioxide. These experiments were conducted using various parts of plants, but most of them concerned seeds and leaves, while processed plant material was used only in approximately 5% of the studies. The authors of the review noticed that the vast majority of SFE studies had concerned only production of the extracts and their characterization. Despite the fact that knowledge about the kinetics of the extraction is essential for a practical implementation of the process, in most of the studies only a selection of optimal conditions was performed
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