Pressurized Liquid Extraction for the Isolation of Bioactive Compounds

Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), an advanced extraction technique, employs solvent extraction at elevated temperatures and pressures, consistently under their individual critical points, so the solvent is sustained in the liquid state during the entire extraction process. As a result of utilizing these exact conditions of pressure and temperature, an alteration in the physicochemical properties of the solvent arises. It is an alternative and advanced preparation technique compared to conventional extraction methods in many areas, such as environmental, food, and pharmaceutical analysis. Medicinal plants are the sources of numerous compounds that can tackle numerous diseases when they are used in a reasonable combination. Every single plant contains one or more major bioactive compounds that are responsible for various biomedical functionalities. This chapter summarizes the application of the PLE technique in extraction and phytochemical analysis. The various advantages offered by this technique, such as low solvent usage, less preparation time, high extraction efficiency and better reproducibility, have made it a better alternative for the extraction and analysis of phytoconstituents.