PRODUCTION-SCALE PROCESS DEVELOPMENT ON AN ANALYTICAL SFE INSTRUMENT

摘要

Supercritical fluid extraction of saw palmetto berries has been studied with lab scale and pilot scale systems. 1. Yields averaged 15% - 16% by weight of the saw palmetto berries, which is comparable to alcohol extracts. 2. At pressures below 350 bar, solvent/feed ratios about 30 are required to obtain a 15% yield, which is time consuming and expensive. 3. At pressures greater than 350 bar, the yield is not a strong function of pressure, however a much reduced solvent/feed ratio (～10) is required at high pressure (～650 bar). 4. Temperature does not seem to have a significant effect on the yield. 5. Pilot Plant data correlates with the lab scale data. 6. The fatty acid and the phytosterol profiles of the extract from supercritical fluid extraction is slightly less than that from conventional alcohol extraction. 7. Further process optimization should close the yield gap for fatty acid and phytosterol between supercritical fluid extraction and conventional alcohol extraction.