Supercritical CO2 extraction of Persea indica: Effect of extraction parameters, modelling and bioactivity of its extracts

The objective of the work was to optimize the extraction of Persea indica L. bioactive compounds by means of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and analyze their insecticidal effects. P. indica L. is one of the dominant species of the Canarian laurel forest, a relict of the Tertiary flora. Different extraction conditions (pressure, plant material particle size, temperature, CO2 flow) and the influence of entrainer were tested and the evolution of the extracted compounds was screened by HPLC–MS. A comparison with conventional techniques such as hydrodistillation (HD) or organic solvent extraction (OSE) was also presented. Particularly, four CO2 densities ranging from 628.61 kg/m3 to 839.81 kg/m3 were studied in the range of 10.0–20.0 MPa and 40–50 °C. The extracts contained insecticidal ryanodanes of great interest, previously described as insecticidal components of P. indica. The insecticidal antifeedant activity of selected extracts was inspected. A model based on mass transfer equations, the Sovová model, was successfully applied to correlate the experimental data.

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► Supercritical fluid extraction of Persea indica, species with bioactive properties.
► Yields, compositions and bioactivity of different extracts were evaluated.
► On comparison with traditional extraction techniques, SFE yielded more than HD.
► Sovová model provided an appropriate description of the SFE process.
► Bioactivity of different extracts analysed, showing similar values between extracts.