ABSTRACT
The increasing consumer demand for ingredients and additives derived from natural sources, and the growing market for functional foods and nutraceuticals have favored the search for bioactive compounds and fractions. Phenolic compounds are one of the most numerous and widespread natural structures that show biological effects, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiallergenic, cardioprotective, anticancer, and anti-inammatory (Del Río et al., 2013). Solvent extraction is the rst step to obtaining target compounds from plant materials. When the concentration of phenolics in the extracts is low, further separation and concentration have to be carried out. In an industrial process, the separation stages (e.g., evaporation and distillation for solvent removal) often account for an important part of the cost of the product. However, the energy-associated costs and the degradation caused by exposure to high temperatures should be avoided. Adsorption-desorption and membranes are energy-efcient technologies for separation of thermolabile compounds.
