Flavour extraction using the SFT-150

The SFT-150 Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) system has been developed to investigate the feasibility of applying supercritical fluid techniques to various analyses and processing situations.

An example is extractions of peppermint flavour from peppermint leaves.

The traditional peppermint extraction technique, steam distillation, produces a thermally degraded peppermint oil extract.

SFE yields an extract of pure peppermint oil, because the peppermint is extracted under much gentler conditions than traditional methods.

Pure peppermint oil has a stronger, fresher, and more unique taste than thermally degraded peppermint oil. This natural, unaltered extract gives food manufacturers a new flavour for their customers to enjoy.

In a similar fashion, the SFT-150 can be applied to a wide variety of natural substances to obtain pure fragrance extracts for perfumes and shampoos.

A high-resolution variable restrictor valve provides precise control over flow rates, which is essential in obtaining highly reproducible results.

The SFT-150 incorporates a high performance, air driven pump that can rapidly produce the high pressures required for supercritical fluid work.

Flow rates up to 330 ml/min. (250 grams/min.) of liquid CO2 may be selected. This capacity is critical to timely processing of kilogram quantities of raw material.

Futher features include:

• Capacity up to 2 liters
• Pressures up to 10,000 psi (68.9 MPa)
• Extract collection options
• Optional co-solvent addition module
• Fluid preheater