Supercritical fluid extraction and fractionation of natural matter

Abstract Supercritical extraction and fractionation of natural matter is one of the early and most studied applications in the field of supercritical fluids. In the last 10 years, studies on the extraction of classical compounds like essential and seed oils from various sources: seeds, fruits, leaves, flowers, rhizomes, etc., with or without the addition of a co-solvent have been published. Supercritical extraction of antioxidants, pharmaceuticals, colouring matters, and pesticides has also been studied. The separation of liquid mixtures and the antisolvent extraction are other processes that can perform very interesting separations. Mathematical modelling has also been developed and refined for some of these processes. The objective of this review is to critically analyze traditional and new directions in the research on natural matter separation by supercritical fluids extraction and fractionation.