ABSTRACT
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has been used in the food industry since 1979,
and has accrued 23 years of experience in the extraction of oils from plant materials. Initially, it was mainly used in the decaffeination of coffee and tea and the extraction of spices and hops. Those had to be large-scale processing operations in order to make them economically feasible and cost effective. However, with the development
and advancements in processing conditions and equipments, the cost effectiveness improved allowing the small-scale productions of ultrahigh quality or high margin product using SFE for commercial distribution. The hottest area for supercritical extraction application is with nutraceuticals, as supercritical fluid extraction can be operated at mild conditions and will retain the bioactivity of components.
