Generation of Highly Antioxidant Submicron Particles from <i>Myrtus communis</i> Leaf Extract by Supercritical Antisolvent Extraction Process
Diego Valor,
Antonio Montes,
María Calderón-Domínguez,
Inass Aghziel,
Ismael Sánchez-Gomar,
Martín Alcalá,
Ma Carmen Durán-Ruiz,
Clara Pereyra
Affiliations
Diego Valor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cadiz, International Excellence Agrifood Campus (CeiA3), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro, 11510 Cadiz, Spain
Antonio Montes
Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cadiz, International Excellence Agrifood Campus (CeiA3), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro, 11510 Cadiz, Spain
María Calderón-Domínguez
Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health Department, Cádiz University, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
Inass Aghziel
Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cadiz, International Excellence Agrifood Campus (CeiA3), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro, 11510 Cadiz, Spain
Ismael Sánchez-Gomar
Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health Department, Cádiz University, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
Martín Alcalá
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, Urbanización Montepríncipe, 28660 Madrid, Spain
Ma Carmen Durán-Ruiz
Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health Department, Cádiz University, 11002 Cadiz, Spain
Clara Pereyra
Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cadiz, International Excellence Agrifood Campus (CeiA3), Campus Universitario Río San Pedro, 11510 Cadiz, Spain
Submicron particles have been produced from an ethanolic extract of Myrtus communnis leaves using supercritical carbon dioxide technology, hereinafter referred to as Supercritical Antisolvent Extraction (SAE). The influence of pressure (9–20 MPa), temperature (308 and 328 K) and injection rate (3 and 8 mL/min) on the particles’ precipitation has been investigated, and it has been confirmed that increases in pressure and temperature led to smaller particle sizes. The obtained particles had a quasi-spherical shape with sizes ranging from 0.42 to 1.32 μm. Moreover, the bioactivity of the generated particles was assessed and large contents of phenolic compounds with a high antioxidant activity were measured. The particles were also subjected to in vitro studies against oxidative stress. The myrtle particles demonstrated cytoprotective properties when applied at low concentrations (1 μM) to macrophage cell lines.
