FLAVEX is taking a new Path

and produces now also polar extracts under high pressure with the recently established High Pressure Ethanol (HPE) extraction technology.

During extraction with pure CO2 the lipophilic and less polar components of plant materials can be obtained. Application of ethanol as cosolvent during CO2-extraction extends the solvent power of the extracting agent and thus enables  the extraction of semi-polar ingredients.

The introduction of the HPE technology with extract separation and -fractionation with supercritical CO2 makes it possible to obtain also semi-polar to polar active substances from plant materials under gentle conditions in high quality. This technique offers the perfect complement to the classical CO2-extraction. Now total extracts containing the lipophilic and the polar fraction can be produced. Also tailor made products, from purely lipophilic to fat and wax-free polar extract fractions can be obtained by optimum process control of the high pressure technology.

For obtaining the lipophilic components (essential oils, flavours, fatty oils, waxes etc.) the plant materials are extracted first with pure CO2. Then the semi-polar and/or polar ingredients can be extracted by cosolvent extraction with a mixture of CO2 and proportions of ethanol of up to 20% or even with pure ethanol under high pressure.

For separation of the extractives dissolved in ethanol the so-called anti-solvent effect of supercritical CO2 for polar components is used. The ethanolic solution is mixed with supercritical CO2 under high pressure. The ethanol and, as the case may be, the semi-polar extract components are extracted with supercritical CO2 and separated as usual in the high-pressure cycle by a two stage pressure reduction. The polar components, which are separated by the anti-solvent effect remain in the so-called mixing/extraction vessel.

Water, ethanol and CO2 are recognized as safe for manufacturing of extracts for food applications. According to legislation they are approved for the production of certified organic products. Consequently CO2-extracts, which are produced with organic certified ethanol as cosolvent are ‘organic’ according to USDA NOP standard respectively ‘controlled ecological’ according to EC organic Regulation 834/2007 and 889/2008. Of course, a prerequisite for that is the controlled ecological certification of the starting plant raw materials.                                         

D. Gerard