Temperature and density effects of the scCO2extraction of spilanthol from Spilanthes acmella flowers

Spilanthol presents anesthetic, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory capacities, as well as anti -microbial and insecticidal activities. In this work, the supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) extraction kinetics of spilanthol from jambu flowers was studied by changing the solvent density (700-900 kg m(-3)) at different temperatures (323-343 K). Spilanthol was isolated from the obtained extracts by TLC and identified/quantified by GC-FID/MS. The highest global extraction yield (similar to 9%) was obtained at 900 kg m(-3) and 343 K, while the highest spilanthol yield and selectivity (2.6% and 34.6%, respectively) were obtained at 800 kg m(-3) and 343 K. Indirect values for the solubility of spilanthol in scCO(2) were estimated from the spilanthol extraction kinetic curves and ranged between (0.7-2.6) x 10(-3)g(spilanthol)/L-CO2(PTN) . The high selectivity of the extraction process for spilanthol achieved in the present indicates work potential advantages of using scCO(2) to obtain spilanthol from S. acmella. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.