SEQUENTIAL PROCESSING OF Psidium guajava L. LEAVES: STEAM DISTILLATION AND SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION

ABSTRACT Extracts from the leaves of Psidium guajava L have been studied due to their importance as a source of natural antioxidant components with possible applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries. In this work, the sequential use of steam distillation and supercritical fluid extraction was studied to obtain the essential oil from the leaves and non-volatile compounds from the residue. The non-volatile compounds were obtained by CO2 supercritical extraction. Experiments were performed in a automated pilot-scale extractor at constant pressure of 15 MPa, at 313 K and 333 K in thre...