Application of supercritical fluid extraction for the separation of nutraceuticals and other phytochemicals from plant material

Abstract

In the present work, a literature review of the application of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) for the isolation of nutraceuticals and some other phytochemicals up to December of 2012 is presented. The manuscript provides knowledge of SFE processes and possible applications of SFE for the extraction of bioactive compounds that serve as nutraceuticals. Compounds are classified into groups based on their chemical nature (carotenoids, flavonoids and other phenolic compounds, essential oils, lipids and fatty acids, and alkaloids and other bioactive phytochemicals), and they are reviewed in tabular form along with the plant material from which they were extracted using supercritical fluids.