Extraction of natural products using supercritical fluids and pressurized liquids

Objective: The natural products are often extracted by petroleum based solvents like hexane, toluene, dichloromethane, chloroform, etc. to isolate the desired class of compounds. The safety of food and medicine has given a strong impetus for the development of non-petroleum based green solvents for extraction.Method: The present paper discuss the applications of liquid CO2, supercritical CO2 and pressurised solvent for extraction of food flavours, cosmoceuticals, nutraceutical and biopesticides from plant materials.Result: These extraction processes, employing minimum amount of solvents, selectively extract the marker compounds in lesser time as compared to the conventional processes.