Pulsed electric fields in the extraction of bioactive compounds

Abstract

Extraction is an operation that has been used for a long time to obtain a wide range ofproducts like sugar, juices, alcoholic beverages, pigments, essential oils, among manyothers (Vorobiev & Lebovka, 2010). More specifically, the interest in the extraction ofbioactive compounds has gained the spotlight due to the continuous accumulation ofscientific evidence that supports that their consumption can help maintain and improvehealth. A growing number of studies suggest the role of polyphenols, carotenoids, andterpenoids in the management of major illness (Eggersdorfer & Wyss, 2018; Ranaet al., 2022; Yang et al., 2020).Traditional extraction techniques that have been used to isolate bioactive compoundsfrom different sources involve pressing, semicontinuous extraction methods,maceration, or distillation. Although these methods are widely distributed and wellknown,they often have very low selectivity and efficiency and consume largeamounts of solvents, time, and/or energy (Ameer et al., 2017). Moreover, many ofthe pretreatments used to enhance the yield of the extraction process, such as milling,maceration, or heating, have deleterious effects on the functional, sensory, andnutritional quality of the product (Vorobiev & Lebovka, 2010, 2017).In recent times, sustainability has become a crucial concept driving technological,social, and economic progress. The search for faster, more environmentally friendly andenergy-efficient extraction methods has driven the development of new, nonconventionalextraction technologies (Chemat et al., 2020). Among these, the main technologiesexplored include supercritical fluids, ultrasound, microwaves, high pressure extractionand pulsed electric field (PEF)-assisted extraction, which have been studied by severalresearch groups around the globe (Chemat et al., 2020; Picot-Allain et al., 2021). PEF is an interesting and versatile technology that has received attention over the last decades,with numerous studies revealing its potential to produce extracts rich in bioactivecompounds from numerous sources (Martı´nez et al., 2020; Soliva-Fortuny et al., 2009;Xi et al., 2021; Yan et al., 2017). This chapter aims to overview the fundamentals ofPEF, discuss the importance of extraction parameters, comment the scalability for industrialapplications, and cover the current challenges related to this technology.