SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE SELECTIVITY TO FRACTIONATE PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS FROM THE DRY ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF PROPOLIS

The global yield and composition of extracts obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction from a dry ethanolic extract of propolis were measured in order to determine the possibility of using SC-CO2 to fractionate components of interest present in these extracts. The global yield extraction was measured, and also the concentrations of the following phenolic compounds in the resulting supercritical fluid extracts (SFEs): 3,5-diprenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (known as artepillin C), 3-prenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, 4-hydroxycinnamic acid (p-coumaric acid) and 4-methoxy-3,5,7-trihydroxyflavone (kaempferide), of which artepillin C was the target component of greatest interest. The results showed extraction yields between 3.82 (at 150 bar) and 13.07% (at 350 bar), which could be highly correlated with the density of the SC-CO2 at a constant temperature of 60C. The resulting concentrations in the SFE indicated that the selectivity of the carbon dioxide could be manipulated, and it was more selective at lower pressures, although with lower extraction yields.