Innovative extraction technologies

Abstract

The enormous biological potential of herbal products is one of the main reasons for their frequent use in the production of dietary supplements and functional foods, which, in addition to their nutritional properties, have pharmacological and physiological effects. New scientific knowledge on the isolation of pharmacologically active compounds from complex matrices has led to significant advances in this field. Today, the process of extraction plays a significant scientific role, with “green” technologies occupying a special place in today’s science. Herbal medicine is one of the oldest human skills, which has worn off with its centuries-old application in the path of modern medicine. Microwave-assisted extraction, or more simply, microwave extraction, is a new extraction technique that combines traditional extraction solvents and microwaves. The mentioned method takes less time, consumes less energy, and has strong penetration power into the plant matrix to obtain more oils, but it can also reduce production costs. This can eventually increase the quality of the final product and reduce the product price at the consumer level. Microwave-assisted extraction could be useful to the herbal industry for oil extraction as well as other pharmaceutically important plant components. Based on a comparison and study of published literature, this research examines the present state of extraction procedures. This review includes a detailed discussion of the most important extraction techniques.