ReviewMechanochemical assisted extraction: A novel, efficient, eco-friendly technology

•Mechanochemical assisted extraction as effective alternative extraction technology.•Current applications and comparisons with other extraction methods are outlined.•Key parameters and possible mechanism are presented.•It can prevent degradation of thermolabile compounds.•It is an eco-friendly extraction process with high efficiency, using water as solvent.

BackgroundHow to extract the bioactive compounds efficiently and safely is a central issue in modern food and pharmaceutical industry. Mechanochemical assisted extraction is an innovative effective and eco-friendly extraction technology, which has shown a great prospect in the industry and biotechnological research. By this method, mechanochemical pretreatment allowed physical and chemical transformations of target compound to improve its water solubility and accelerated extraction efficiency markedly.Scope and approachThis review gives an overview of applications, possible mechanisms and important parameters of MAE. Furthermore, the comparison between MAE and other techniques is also presented. So far, several researches have evaluated the effect of MAE for extraction of bioactive compounds (e.g. flavonoids, magnolol, rutin and polysaccharides) and compared MAE with other extraction techniques (e.g. heat-reflux extraction and superfine grinding extraction).Key findings and conclusionsThe current studies demonstrated that MAE had many advantages such as high efficiency and selectivity, simpler manipulation and significant reduction of the organic solvent consumption. It is a potential alternative technique to the conventional extraction method in the industrial production. Moreover, since MAE is performed under relatively low temperature, it can reduce or avoid the loss of thermolabile compounds.