INTEGRATED PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM EUCALYPTUS BIOMASS

• Main Authors: Reis Moreira, Patrícia Raquel, Pereira, Cláudia Maria Fragão, Da Silva Couto, Lígia Maria Ribeiro Pires, De Pascoal Neto, Carlos, Figueirinha, Artur Manuel Bordalo Machado, Da Silva, Artur Manuel Soares, Oliveira, Cátia Sofia Domingues, Silvestre, Armando Jorge Domingues, Batista, Maria Teresa Pereira Marques, Gaspar, Alexandre Miguel Ricardo, De Teixeira Cruz Rosete, Maria Teresa, De Oliveira Rodrigues Pinto, Paula Cristina, Santos, Sónia Andreia Oliveira
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 30.10.2024
• Subjects: HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, OR TOILET PURPOSES; SEPARATION; TRANSPORTING

The present invention relates to an integrated process for obtaining extracts enriched in specific families of bioactive compounds from eucalyptus biomass, which includes the steps of hydrodistillation of eucalyptus biomass, with the production of eucalyptus essential oil, and the subsequent extraction of the resulting biomass with the essential oil obtained. The resulting biomass is further extracted with water and/or an aliphatic alcohol and/or with mixtures of water and aliphatic alcohols.The process disclosed here allows, in an integrated way, to obtain a wide range of value-added products from the same biomass, belonging to different chemical families and presenting different degrees of polarity, and using a smaller variety and amount of organic solvents. The process of this invention is also characterized in that one of the products obtained is used in one of the sequential extraction steps to obtain another family of products with high added value.