High pressure extraction and its application in the extraction of bio‐active compounds: A review

Abstract

AbstractExtraction of bio‐active compounds has become very important as these compounds show various characteristics which are beneficial to health, such as antioxidant, anti‐carcinogenic and antimicrobial properties. High pressure extraction (HPE) can be included among the recent and novel methods for extracting bioactive compounds from natural materials. The high pressure is applied to stimulate various phenomena (such as transition of phase from one form to another, change in reaction dynamics, change in molecular structure, etc.) which induces a reaction in a direction promoting a decrease in volume hence resulting in the enhancement of extraction efficiency. This article presents a comprehensive review of HPE and its applications in various food products and wastes. The review highlights that HPE is potential option for conventional extraction methods to meet the industrial demand. As most of the research has been conducted at laboratory scale level therefore recommendations for scaling up of the HPE process are made to evaluate the performance at commercial levels.Practical applicationsExtraction is considered to be a vital unit operation in downstream processes. However the conventional methods of extraction have various disadvantages viz. time and solvent consuming, energy deficient, poor extraction, risky to environment. High pressure extraction has a huge potential to partially or fully overcome these disadvantages. This review article presents the working mechanism and principle of HPE, and recent research conducted to evaluate the HPE process of potential bio‐active compounds from various plant and animal sources. HPE has been found to facilitate the recovery of these potential bio‐active compounds in their best natural form. Also it is recommended that HPE could be scaled up to make the extraction process relatively easy and efficient at commercial level.