Innovative supercritical CO2 extraction of lycopene from tomato in the presence of vegetable oil as co-solvent.

This work describes an innovative process for the extraction of lycopene from tomato using supercritical carbon dioxide in the presence of vegetable oil as co-solvent. The presence of the co-solvent improves the yields of the lycopene extract and has a beneficial role in the stability of the pigment. A complete description of the extraction process is also reported. The experiments carried out with and without co-solvent at pressures and temperatures ranging from 335 to 450 bar and 45 to 70 ◦C, respectively, bar have shown that the amount of the extractable lycopene depends on the experimental conditions. Also, the maximum amount of the extractable lycopene from dried tomato (6% of moisture, average particle size of about 1 mm), at 450 bar and 66 ◦C in the presence of co-solvent and utilizing a flow rate of about 20 kg CO2/h, was 60%. The extracts were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and UV–vis spectra

An innovative method for the purification of anthocyanins from grape skin extracts by using liquid and sub-critical carbon dioxide

This work describes a new and innovative method for the purification of anthocyanins from grape skin extracts as liquid matrix (LM), by using carbon dioxide (CO2). The LM was obtained by extraction of anthocyanins from grape skins using a water/ethyl alcohol solution acidified with 0.2% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). The CO2 purification process produced a desired fraction (F1) containing pure anthocyanins, and a second fraction (F2) containing ethyl alcohol and other components of the grape skins. An yield of anthocyanin of about 85%, with respect to the starting overall anthocyanin content, was obtained under the following optimized process conditions: pressure 100–130 bar; temperature 30–40 ◦C; pH of LM 2–4; percentage of ethyl alcohol in the LM 25–30%; CO2 flow rate 25–50 ml/min; LM flow/CO2 flow ratio 3–10%. We have also demonstrated that the purification process allowed to eliminate ethyl alcohol from the anthocyanin extract without any thermal or chemical degradation, obtaining a high added value product which maintains its anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity unchanged