Sub- and Supercritical Fluid Processing of Agrimaterials: Extraction, Fractionation and Reaction Modes

The processing of agrimaterials utilizing sub- and supercritical fluids Is one of the more challenging and time-honored applications of the technology. Agrimaterials can by definition include food, natural products, and nutraceuticals; however It Is probably raw agricultural materials that encompass and present so many undefined variables to the technologist attempting to use critical fluid processing. Agrimaterials are “nature” In Its most raw form, and the application of critical fluids for unit operations must be able to respond to a wide variation in substrate moisture content, molecular composition, and physical or seasonal morphology. In these cases, a unit operation like supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) will not be conducted under Idealized conditions, i. e, those that are used to measure solute solubility in a laboratory environment. Such complications however have not limited the application of critical fluid technology to agrimaterials, since some of the most often cited and commercially-successful uses of the technology occur in this area.