Analysis of supercritical fluid extraction of lycopodine using response surface methodology and process mathematical modeling

•Supercritical fluid extraction yielded 20.29% (w/w) of lycopodine from Lycopodium clavatum.•The optimized conditions for extraction were 300 bar, 40 °C.•Statistical analysis showed that only pressure and temperature were significant.•The mathematical modeling was efficient in predicting the experimental data.

Supercritical CO2 was used in this work to obtain the lycopodine alkaloid from the Lycopodium clavatum L. The objective was to investigate the best process conditions through the usage of the response surface methodology, evaluating the effects of extraction parameter such as pressure (200–300 bar), temperature (40–60 °C) and pre-treatment time of plant in an alkaline solution (0–2 h). The relationship between these variables and the yield of lycopodine extract was obtained by a second-order polynomial using the Box–Behnken design. The optimal extraction condition was found to be within the ranges investigated: 300 bar, 40 °C, no pre-treatment. These process conditions resulted in a yield of 20.29 lycopodine % of the final extract. From this result, the extraction curve was plotted as a function of time and simulation of the extraction process was performed using two models available in the literature, which are based on differential mass balances for the solid and fluid phases.

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