Advances in the extraction of natural ingredients by high pressure extraction technology

High hydrostatic pressure processing is an emerging non-thermal food processing technique that has shown great promise in food and pharmaceutical industries and in biotechnological research. A high pressure extraction (HPE) methodology was recently developed for extracting bioactive compounds from natural materials. Compared to the conventional used techniques such as heat or solvent extraction, the HPE process is faster, gives higher extraction yields, fewer impurities and as it is performed at room temperature, avoids thermal degradation and loss of bioactivity of the extracted components. This review provides a detailed overview of the developments in the use of HPE for obtaining bioactive ingredients from natural products. The principles and characteristics of HPE are described, and current applications for the extraction of active compounds from fruits, vegetables, herbs and food byproducts are summarized. This emerging technology has enormous potential in the food and pharmaceutical industries, and could provide many benefits to human health in future.