Supercritical fluid extraction of capsaicin from peppers

Supercritical Fluid Extraction is a process which has demonstrated high selectivity and high yields for various applications. It is also an energy efficient, economically viable and environmentally friendly process, especially to extract high-value added compounds from agricultural raw materials. This investigation provides an in-depth study of the use of this technology to extract "capsaicin", a high-value added drug available in chili peppers. Capsaicin is used as a potent pharmaceutical drug to alleviate pain due to diseases such as arthritis and osteoarthritis.; Influence of parameters such as pressure, temperature, flow, and density on the extraction process have been studied and the "best" conditions to extract capsaicin using supercritical carbon dioxide have been established. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry have been used to develop a method to quantify the amount of capsaicin extracted. Techniques to improve the selectivity of the extract have been suggested. Enhancement of SFE performance using ultrasonic vibration has been successfully designed and implemented. The solubility constants for capsaicin is estimated from the experimental data by fitting the Chrastil's solubility equation.