Supercritical Co2 extraction, chemical characterization and antioxidant potential of Brassica oleracea var. capitata

In this work were extracted bioactive compounds from Brassica oleracea var. capitata using supercritical CO2 and evaluated the antioxidant potential of the extracts. Five extractions were accomplished to investigate the influence of pressure (10 – 25 MPa) and temperature (20 - 60°C) in the extraction yield, chemical composition and antioxidant potential towards peroxyl, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals. The highest extraction yield was obtained at 60°C and 25 MPa, which was 0.47wt% (run 2). In the characterization of the extracts obtained was possible the identification of sulforaphane and iberin nitrile that present known biological properties. The extracts of all runs presented antioxidant activity towards the three radicals, but the highest activity for all radicals was using the extracts obtained in the run 2. The use of supercritical CO2 extraction to obtain bioactive compounds of Brassica oleracea var. capitata showed to be a promising alternative to a conventional extraction methods, since allowed the extraction of compounds with scientific and industrial interest