Supercritical fluid extraction of lipids, carotenoids, and other compounds from marine sources

In the last two decades, research on high value compounds such as lipids, including polyunsaturated fatty acids, sterols, phospholipids, as well as carotenoids and phenolic compounds has raised great attention, due to the increasing interest of consumers in functional foods which can promote health benefits. Microalgae, macroalgae, fisheries products, and by-products have shown to be a great potential source of those recognized bioactive compounds. In this sense, interesting developments have been carried out employing supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). In this chapter, an overview of the principles, factors, and parameters affecting the SFE process, as well as the most recent applications for the extraction of valuable compounds from several marine sources is discussed. In addition, advances on gas-expanded liquid and new biorefinery approaches using SFE for obtaining bioactive compounds-enriched extracts are presented. Finally, a perspective about the potential applications of the marine bioactive extracts in the food industry is included.