Evaluation of supercritical fluid extraction in the pharmaceutical industry.

Various steroids precipitate from supercritical CO(2) as very small particles but still retain their crystallinity. This suggests that SCFE in this industry could be utilized as a size reduction method as an alternative to milling. The application of SCFE as a separation technique is demonstrated by the simultaneous extraction and reaction of mevinolin, a metabolite of the fungus Aspergillus terreus.