Obtaining of Extracts from Origanum vulgare and Cordia verbenacea Via Supercritical Technology and Steam Distillation: Process and Economical Study

摘要

The possibility of using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technology as an ecologically correct alternative for industrial processes has been long discussed in recent years. The relatively high cost of SFE processes has been a major obstacle in the widespread use of this technology. In the present study, extracts from oregano (Origanum vulgare) and Cordia verbenacea leaves collected during the vegetative phase of the plants were isolated using SFE and steam distillation (SD). Oregano is well known for its antioxidant activity and antimicrobial properties. C. verbenacea is used in Brazilian folk medicine for its anti-rheumatic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and healing properties. A comparative study of the cost of manufacturing (COM) of the two extraction methods is presented. The cost estimation was done using a class 5 methodology that defines COM as a weighed sum of five factors: fixed cost of investment, cost of operational labor, cost of raw material, cost of waste treatment and cost of utilities. The operational data used were obtained from literature (C. verbenacea SFE) and laboratory experiments (O. vulgare SFE and SD and C. verbenacea SD). The scale-up procedure assumed that both yield and extraction time of the industrial process are equal to the laboratorial scale if the ratio between the solvent flow rate and the mass of particles inside the extractor is kept constant.