Economic assessment of emerging extraction techniques: hybridization of high-pressure extraction and low-frequency ultrasound to produce piceatannol-rich extract from passion fruit bagasse

• Published in: Chemical engineering and processing 2022-04, Vol.174, p.108850, Article 108850
• Main Authors: Ferreira, Wilson S., Viganó, Juliane, Veggi, Priscilla C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bioactive compounds; Cost of manufacturing; Economic evaluation; Modelling; Pressurized liquid extraction; Supercritical fluid extraction
• ISSN: 0255-2701; 1873-3204
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cep.2022.108850

•Economic assessment of SFE+PLE-US hybridization is the first time reported•Economic assessment for obtaining piceatannol-rich extract was provided•Scale-up increased productivity and reduced the cost of manufacturing•Scale-up and extract's selling price played a fundamental role in the feasibility•The SFE+PLE showed feasibility, and SFE+PLE-US presented infeasibility at tested conditions Low-frequency ultrasound has been efficiently applied to intensify high-pressure extraction processes. However, large-scale hybridization still is challenging. This work aims to present an economic feasibility study of two different extraction processes to produce a piceatannol-rich extract from yellow passion fruit bagasse – process A (supercritical fluid extraction + pressurized liquid extraction – SFE+PLE) and process B (SFE+PLE assisted by ultrasound – SFE+PLE-US). The SuperPro Designer software was employed to estimate the manufacturing cost (COM), productivity, and economic return rates, calculated for each overall extraction curve and different scales (50, 200, and 500 L). Process A showed economically viable, while process B showed infeasible at a 20% minimum acceptable rate of return. The lowest COM and better economic return were obtained with process A at 75 °C, 500 L, and 90 min. In addition, a sensitivity study was carried out, indicating the possibility of selling the extract below the market price, representing a competitive differential to implement the extraction process at large scales. It is noteworthy that up to now, the economic feasibility of PLE-US on a large scale has not yet been performed, so this work represents a starting point for studies of PLE-US hybridization on large scales. Graphical Abstract [Display omitted] .