Elsevier, Journal of Supercritical Fluids, (110), p. 1-10, 2016
DOI: 10.1016/j.supflu.2015.12.001
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The contents of tocols, unsaturated fatty acids and carotenoids make the passion fruit bagasse an interesting source for extraction. In this study the selectivity of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC–CO2) as solvent was explored to obtain extract fractions concentrated in such compounds from passion fruit bagasse. The study was divided into two stages. The first stage identified the conditions of temperature and pressure that achieved extracts with different chemical compositions. In the second stage, such conditions were applied in a sequential supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) process composed by three steps (60 °C and 17 MPa; 50 °C and 17 MPa; e 60 °C and 26 MPa). Only the first step recovered tocols, the second step extracted fatty acids without tocols and low carotenoid content, and the third step concentrated carotenoids. The sequential SFE process achieved extracts 1.5 and 5.8 times more concentrated in tocols and carotenoids, respectively, than the single-stage condition that achieved bigger global yield (40 °C, 35 MPa).