HPLC comparison of supercritical fluid extraction and solvent extraction of coumarins from the peel of Citrus maxima fruit.

The efficiency of carbon dioxide supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of the biologically active compounds imperatorin, meranzin and meranzin hydrate from the fruit peel of Citrus maxima Merr. has been compared with that of solvent extraction with acetone. Under the best SFE conditions tested for the three coumarins, which involved extraction at 50 degrees C and 27.6 MPa, the extractive efficiencies were 84, 76 and 18% for imperatorin, meranzin and meranzin hydrate, respectively. The presence of modifiers significantly affected the extraction efficiency: the highest extraction efficiency of the three coumarins was obtained with ethanol as modifier.