Generation of Spherical Microparticles of Moringa Leaves through a Supercritical Antisolvent Extraction Process

Abstract

The objective of this work was evaluation of the supercritical antisolvent extraction (SAE) process to generate microparticles with antioxidant activity from Moringa leaves. A biodegradable polymer was used as an inductor of particle precipitation. An ethanolic extract of 25 mg/mL was used in the SAE process, during which the influences of pressure (100–200 bar), temperature (35–55 C) and extract–polymer ratio (0.11–0.33) on particle size and antioxidant activity were evaluated. An extract flow rate of 3 mL/min, a supercritical CO2 (scCO2) flow rate of 30 g CO2/min and a nozzle diameter of 100 m were kept constant. The identification of several compounds of Moringa leaves, namely, coumaric acid and quercetin 3D glucoside, were determined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The antioxidant activity of the extract and the precipitates was measured with 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. Spherical microparticles with diameters in the range of 2–5 m were obtained, with moderate antioxidant activity.