Contributions of supercritical fluid extraction to sustainable development goal 9 in South America: Industry, innovation, and infrastructure

Over the past few decades, there has been heightened interest in developing modular, environmentally friendly, sustainable, and recuperative production processes that reuse, recycle, and reduce raw materials. The supercritical fluids extraction (SFE) process is emerging as a promising technology that can contribute to sustainable development goals (SDGs). This review paper presents recent developments in using the SFE to recover bioactive compounds from biobased products and byproducts, emphasizing the potential use of this process in South America to help achieve the SDGs. The work focusses on critical aspects that have the potential to help increase the widespread implementation of SFE technology at an industrial scale. While data on economic feasibility and the environmental impact is limited, literature shows that among South American countries, Brazil has the greatest potential for obtaining various products from native and cultivated crops using SFE and achieving SDG 9. However, the dependence on imported equipment remains the major bottleneck.