Supercritical fluid technology for processing of lipids and bioactives

拟开展的研究项目重点是将超临界流体技术应用于加拿大的自然生物资源，开发新工艺，获得高质量的增值产品。二氧化碳（CO2）是食品应用的首选超临界流体。在温度和压力高于其临界点（31摄氏度，7.4兆帕）时，超临界（SC）二氧化碳具有介于液体和气体之间的性质。由于安全问题，在食品和天然保健产品加工中使用石油基有机溶剂的做法受到质疑。SC-CO2萃取消除了有机溶剂的使用，在最终产品中没有溶剂残留，因为CO2在减压后作为气体分离。这在快速增长的天然保健品/营养保健品领域尤其重要，因为消费者需要“天然”提取物。因此，在工业规模上，从各种植物材料中提取有益健康的生物活性成分的SC-CO2提取已经有了巨大的增长。通过更好地理解控制这一过程的基本原理和对所获得产品的评估，开发SC-CO2技术的新应用是本研究计划的主要目标。在我的项目中使用超临界流体包括萃取、分馏、反应、膜分离和颗粒形成等单元操作，应用于脂类和营养品。因此，我的项目在北美是独一无二的，在全球都很受尊重。我的研究计划的下一阶段将侧重于加强我们对SC-CO2中脂质和生物活性的复杂混合物的溶解度和相行为的基本理解。工程建模和工艺设计所需的各种物理性质，如界面张力和接触角将被确定。一个主要的焦点将是分离生物活性物质的柱和膜分离，以及针对微/纳米颗粒的颗粒形成技术，以设计新的生物活性物质递送系统，特别是用于高价值功能食品，营养保健和化妆品应用。我们感兴趣的生物活性物质是omega-3脂肪酸、植物甾醇、生育酚和类胡萝卜素，它们已被证明对心脏病和癌症有有益作用。该计划将有助于培养食品工程领域的高素质人才，这对我国农业资源的增值加工有很高的需求。

The proposed research program focuses on the application of supercritical fluid technology to Canada's natural biological resources to develop novel processes and to obtain high quality value-added products. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the supercritical fluid of choice for food applications. At temperatures and pressures above its critical point (31oC, 7.4 MPa), supercritical (SC) CO2 has properties in between those of a liquid and a gas. The use of petroleum-based organic solvents for the processing of food and natural health products is being questioned due to safety concerns. SC-CO2 extraction eliminates the use of organic solvents, leaving no solvent residue in the final product since CO2 separates as a gas upon pressure reduction. This is especially important in the rapidly growing field of natural health products/nutraceuticals since the consumers are demanding “natural” extracts. Thus, there has been a tremendous growth in the SC-CO2 extraction of health benefiting bioactive components from various plant materials at industrial scale. Development of novel applications of the SC-CO2 technology through better understanding of the fundamental principles governing this process and evaluation of the products obtained are the main goals of this research program. The use of supercritical fluids in my program involves the unit operations of extraction, fractionation, reactions, membrane separation and particle formation applied to lipids and nutraceuticals. As such, my program is unique in North America and well respected globally. The next phase of my research program will focus on enhancing our understanding of the fundamentals in terms of solubility and phase behavior of the complex mixtures of lipids and bioactives in SC-CO2. Various physical properties necessary for engineering modeling and process design such as interfacial tension and contact angle will be determined. A major focus will be column and membrane separations for the isolation of bioactives and particle formation techniques targeting micro/nano particles to design novel delivery systems for bioactives, especially for high-value functional food, nutraceutical and cosmetic applications. The bioactives of interest are omega-3 fatty acids, phytosterols, tocopherols and carotenoids, which have been demonstrated to have beneficial effects against heart disease and cancer. The proposed program will contribute to the training of highly qualified personnel in the area of food engineering, which is in high demand for value-added processing of our agricultural resources.