(656e) Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Acai Berries

Isolation of nutrient and anti-oxidants from acai berries were successfully performed using supercritical carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide ethanol mixtures. Two different semi batch pilot plants were utilized; one for moderate pressures (up to 200bar), while the other one was for ultra-high pressures (up to 600 bar). The extract yields were as high as 40% and compared well with those of soxhlet extraction. The products were analyzed using a portfolio of techniques including HPLC and FTIR.  Furthermore, solubility of model components of the berries, nutrients and anti-oxidants, in supercritical carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide ethanol mixtures were studied using a variable volume synthetic phase analysis experimental set-up. The modeling of phase behavior of the system was performed using Peng Robinson equation of state with Wong Sandler mixing rules to regress the binary interaction parameters from the experimental cloud point data. The utilization of the extraction residue as biomass feedstock and fermentation to wines were also explored.