Supercritical herbal extracts are gaining more and more importance in food flavour applications.
One reason is the positive natural image of CO2 as solvent satisfying the consumers demand for natural foodstuffs. CO2 is well known from sparkling drinks and therefore perceived to be natural and safe in contrast to conventional chemical solvents such as hexane. Even steam distillation is sometimes disapproved by the potential addition of chemicals keeping the installation free of deposits.
Another advantage over these procedures is the low temperature level applied during CO2 extraction avoiding heat damage and the formation of artefacts. Some essential oils obtained by CO2 extraction have proved to be of superior organoleptic quality compared to steam distillates since the CO2 ingredients' profile more closely resembles that of the botanical source. This is especially true among others for clove bud oil where the important eugenyl acetate is hydrolysed during steam distillation almost completely or for marjoram oil where the typical sabinenehydrate acetate degrades into hydrocarbons like sabinene and terpinenes that do not contribute to the flavour impression.
The CO2 method is beneficial as well for replacing solvent extraction where it takes advantage of an increased and adjustable selectivity. For instance it is possible to produce high grade ginger extracts with high flavour intensity and high pungency at the same time. It is possible to produce concentrated vanilla extracts with a pleasant flavour and 12 per cent, 26 per cent or even 95 per cent natural vanillin content. They are especially suitable in those applications where the addition of alcoholic extracts is less tolerated. In the field of nutraceuticals carotenes can be extracted from different sources and high efficacy antioxidants with high carnosolic acid content can be produced from rosemary and sage.
In all applications the CO2 extracts provide their own unique character. They are 100 per cent natural, authentic, highly concentrated and without solvent residues. They offer new possibilities especially in the certified organic field and where quality and added value are important.
Enquiry No 37
Flavex Naturextrakte GmbH is based in Rehlingen, Germany. www.flavex.com
