Open AccessSupercritical carbon dioxide extraction of methylxanthines from maté tea leaves
Author(s) -
Marleny D.A. Saldaña,
Rahoma S. Mohamed,
Paulo Mazzafera
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
brazilian journal of chemical engineering/brazilian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.313
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1678-4383
pISSN - 0104-6632
DOI - 10.1590/s0104-66322000000300001
Subject(s) - theobromine , caffeine , supercritical carbon dioxide , theophylline , chemistry , extraction (chemistry) , supercritical fluid , fractionation , chromatography , supercritical fluid extraction , carbon dioxide , food science , organic chemistry , biology , pharmacology , endocrinology
Methylxanthines are alkaloids found in natural products such as tea, coffee and guaraná. These alkaloids are commonly used in cola drinks and pharmaceutical products due principally to their stimulant and diuretic effects on the human organism. In this work, experimental data on the supercritical CO2 extraction of caffeine, theophylline and theobromine from herbal maté tea, a beverage traditionally consumed by the gauchos of southern Brazil, the Argentine, Paraguay and Uruguay, were obtained using high pressure extraction equipment that allows adequate control of temperature and pressure. The continuous extraction/fractionation of maté tea leaves, Ilex paraguariensis in natura using carbon dioxide was carried out at 313.2 and 343.2 K and pressures of 13.8 and 25.5 MPa. Extraction/fractionation curves revealed the large influence of temperature and pressure on extraction yield. CO2 was also found to show a higher selectivity for caffeine than for theophylline and theobromine