“The SFE + UAE mixture enhances yield and focus of bioactive compounds like phenols and curcuminoids, optimizing turmeric extract’s neuroprotective and anti inflammatory potential and offering fractions with particular composition of bioactives, thus concentrating on totally different well being advantages,” wrote the staff of Columbian and Spanish researchers in Frontiers in Vitamin.
“On this sense, each fractions may very well be advantageously employed to develop nutraceuticals and/or useful meals with particular well being advantages.”
Advantages of inexperienced extraction methods
The researchers famous the numerous limitations of typical extraction strategies.
Utilizing solvents may cause environmental air pollution and pose disposal issues. Moreover, the excessive temperatures utilized by producers in solvent extraction can degrade the bioactive compounds within the supplies, thereby lowering the standard of the ensuing extract.
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) are environmentally pleasant methods that use solvents equivalent to supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO2) and ethanol. Though the strategies have beforehand confirmed efficient in extracting bioactives from different plant supplies, they haven’t been studied for curcuma compounds.
Moreover, the constraints of curcuminoids in meals and pharmaceutical functions, equivalent to low solubility and bioavailability, in addition to speedy degradation, make colloidal programs, equivalent to nanoemulsions, extra interesting. Nanoemulsions encapsulate bioactive compounds, defending them and enhancing their bioavailability.
These manufacturing and encapsulating applied sciences could profit manufacturers concentrating on health-conscious and environmentally acutely aware customers.
Research particulars
The researchers studied the sequential extraction of dried Curcuma longa rhizomes from Colombia utilizing SFE and UAE. They then ready nanoemulsions from the concentrated extract and characterised their stability, in addition to the content material of important oils, curcuminoids, complete phenolics and antioxidant exercise.
Subsequent, they carried out an in vitro evaluation of the extracts’ organic actions, together with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition and anti inflammatory exercise.
“The sequential SFE + UAE course of proved to be environment friendly in acquiring a lipophilic extract by SFE, wealthy in risky compounds, and a hydrophilic extract by UAE, wealthy in curcuminoids and phenolic compounds, utilizing typically acknowledged as protected (GRAS) solvents, which is in line with the rules of inexperienced chemistry and the Sustainable Growth Objectives (SDGs),” the researchers wrote.
“The sequential course of enhanced the phenolic content material by 4.3 occasions and the curcuminoids content material by 3 occasions in comparison with potential,” they reported, including that the extracts “exhibited vital anti-inflammatory exercise, as demonstrated by the lipoxygenase (LOX) enzyme inhibition assays.”
The AChE assays demonstrated the “sturdy neuroprotective potential” of the extract.
As well as, the nanoemulsions improved the steadiness of the extracts, which confirmed no vital modifications after 15 days.
The researchers wrote that the methods offered a viable and environmentally pleasant various to traditional strategies. Nonetheless, they famous that scaling up these strategies is hindered by “problem of attaining uniform cavitation in giant volumes, resulting in power inefficiencies and impeding industrial implementation.”
Supply: Frontiers in Vitamin. doi: doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1619725. “Antioxidant, neuroprotective and anti inflammatory exercise of Curcuma longa extracts: from inexperienced extraction to nanoemulsion”. Authors: A. Perez et al.
