Pressurized hot water extraction of 10-deacetylbaccatin III from yew for industrial application

In this study a systematic and model-based approach for a process development focusing on pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) is investigated, considering potential thermal degradation of high-value compounds. For extraction of 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DAB) from yew as a representative test system, water at 120 °C provided the best compromise between extraction yield and thermal degradation. A yield of almost 100% with regard to the overall amount of 10-DAB was reached in only 20 min. Each experiment for model parameter determination was carried out with 1.9 g of plant material at a flowrate of 1 mL/min and an applied pressure of 11 bar. All experimental values are assessed by a physico-chemical (rigorous) extraction model with experimental values and simulation results showing high conformity. In order to demonstrate the usability of the extraction model and model parameter determination a scale-up prediction was calculated. The scale-up experiments were predicted precisely and thus the model validated. The experiments and the simulation results for a column with a volume of 104 mL and a mass of 22 g yew needles were consistent with the milli-scale used for model parameter determination.