Supercritical fluid extraction of carotenoids and chlorophyll a from Nannochloropsis gaditana

The results demonstrate that it is necessary to work at a pressure of 400 bar and a temperature of 60 °C to obtain a significant yield in the extraction of the pigments. The best Carot/Chlor ratio was obtained at 200 bar and 60 °C. It was also found that excellent selectivity can be obtained under these operating conditions and this could enable the separation and purification of these kinds of extracted pigments.