Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of terpenoids from needles of Pinus tabulaeformis

Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction is an advanced technique in extracting volatile substances,which works at low temperatures,without any oxidation and deterioration.This method was first used to extract volatile terpenoids, such as α-pinene and β-caryophyllene, from the needles of Pinus tabulaeformis by means of alternating the factors of extraction pressure,temperature and time, and by GC and GC/MS monitoring.Resultsshow that the optimum extraction conditions including the pressure of 15 MPa, temperature of 40℃ and the time of 20 min.Compared with the former method of vapour distillation,the duration of this method is shorter and extraction efficiency is higher.