Extraction Application: Mechanism and Influencing Factors

Dear Colleagues,

Bioactive compounds and antibiotics are very important in maintaining human health and treating various illnesses, being utterly essential in sectors such as food and pharmaceuticals. Even if bioactive compounds can be obtained from various natural sources such as plants, animals, and microorganisms, their production and separation techniques require constant attention. Extraction (via solid–liquid, liquid–liquid, and supercritical fluid extraction) is a critical step in the isolation and purification of bioactive compounds. These methods allow, in specific conditions, the selective separation of the target compounds from the natural source. These can subsequently be further purified and characterized for use in various applications, including pharmaceuticals, food additives, or cosmetics. It offers several advantages: it is a clean and economical method, is energy efficient, and can be used at an industrial scale with existing equipment.

Extraction is a key separation process in the chemical industry, and it is crucial that its mechanism and influencing factors are understood if extraction processes are to be designed and optimized. The mechanism of extraction depends on various factors, such as the type of solvent used, the solubility of the target compound in the solvent, and the temperature and pressure conditions. The process can be governed by diffusion, mass transfer, and chemical reaction kinetics. The influencing factors requiring analysis in order to obtain desired separation efficiency, yield, and purity of the target compound can include the properties of the solvent, such as its polarity and selectivity; the properties of the feed material, such as its particle size and composition; and the operating conditions, such as the temperature, pressure, and flow rate.

Above all, we set up this special issue aiming to collect some advances in the following topic but not limited to:

1. New extractions techniques;
2. The applications of extraction techniques;
3. Extraction mechanism;
4. Influencing factors and related applications.

Dr. Alexandra Cristina Blaga
Guest Editor

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