Supercritical fluid and pressurized liquid extractions of phytonutrients from passion fruit by-products: Economic evaluation of sequential multi-stage and single-stage processes

- Economic evaluation of sequential multi-stage and single-stage extractions was provided.
- Tocols, fatty acids, carotenoids, and phenolics compose the extract fractions.
- The cost of manufacturing decreased as the production scale increased.
- Production scale and sale price played a vital role in the sensitive study.
- The extraction processes are feasible alternatives and attractive for investments.

This work presents the economic evaluation of two processes to obtain: i) four extract fractions from passion fruit bagasse by sequential multi-stage process comprising three steps of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and one step of pressurized liquid extraction (PLE); ii) one extract from passion fruit rinds by single-stage PLE process. The economic simulation and sensitivity study were performed for plants containing two extraction vessels of 1, 5, 50 and 500 L. The scale-up led to a decrease in the cost of manufacturing (COM). COMs of extracts from sequential multi-stage and single-stage processes decreased from US$ 220.51/kg to US$ 26.33/kg and US$ 71.03/kg to US$ 11.96/kg, respectively, when the system capacity increased from 2 × 1 L to 2 × 500 L. Itemized costs related to materials, facilities, labor and utilities are also presented. Both processes are economically promising, especially when the extracts are produced in large scale and sold by the current market price.

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