(178g) Intensified Hydrolysis By Employing the Synergy of Mixed Subcritical H2o and Supercritical CO2

Hydrolysis of naturally occuring compounds into more bioactive and bioavailable materials are gaining popularity in food and pharmaceutical industries. However, conventional method employs harmful catalysts such as sulfuric acid with low yield, while separation of the target compounds from the reaction products requires rather tedious approaches. To overcome these problems, this research aims to develop, optimize and evaluate by experimental approaches the combined reaction and separation process employing the synergy of subcritical H₂O and supercritical CO₂. Application to hydrolysis of citrus bioflavonoids (hesperidin) into its aglycones (hesperitin) was elucidated. Using a batch reactor, we were successful in hydrolyzing hesperidin into hesperetin under hydrothermal conditions with supercritical CO₂. The highest yield of hesperetin was obtained at T=160 ^oC, P=15 MPa and t=4 h. Based on the results, a semi-batch reactor system was developed to study reaction and separation process employing the mixture of supercritical CO₂ and subcritical H₂O. After the reaction, extraction of hesperetin was carried out by passing supercritical CO₂ through the reaction products. Results indicated the possibility of separating hesperetin from the mixture, and higher yield can be obtained by simply manipulating the pressure and temperature of CO₂.