Bioprocess Development Services

Herbal extracts are usually obtained from leaves of the plants. Some of the well-known herbal leaves are basil, oregano, bay leaf, thyme, tarragon, mint, marjoram, sage, curry leaf, parsley, rosemary, olive leaves, lime leaves, leaves from Aloaceae or Liliaceae family, gingko etc. leaves contain valuable bioactive compounds such as tocopherols, carotenoids, flavonoids, sterols, vitamins, tannins, lipids, and minerals which can be used in health, beauty and food industry.

Preparation of herbal leaf extracts requires careful harvesting of leaves, cleaning, grading, sorting and milling. In some cases, additional steps such as aging, steaming, sweating, roasting/frying are required to remove any toxic compounds present in the leaves. Drying of leaves after sorting will stabilise the leaves from bacterial contamination, but may affect the concentration of desired bioactive components.

Extraction of bioactive components from leaves can be done by traditional methods such as maceration, infusion, percolation, decoction or advanced techniques such as enzyme treatments, microwave treatment, ultrasonic extraction, pressurised liquid extraction, sub-critical and super critical fluid extraction methods. Advanced techniques reduce the solvent use, time and energy required for the extraction and increase the yields.

We understand your feedstock and your market needs and use advanced techniques to develop optimised economic and environment-friendly extraction process.

Bark is a dead tissue that forms protective layers of branches and trunks of woody plants. It comprises up to 20% of wood dry weight and is currently an underutilised resource. In the manufacture of wood materials, bark is removed and discarded or burnt for fuel which is an inefficient valorisation method. Bark is rich in bioactive components such as phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, sterols, glycosides etc. Traditionally, bark extracts are used for their anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, astringent, anti-ulcer and wound healing properties.

Bark should be washed and ground (mechanical pretreatment) to increase the extraction efficiency. Based on the class of target bioactive compounds, different types of solvents and extraction methods are required.

Hydrodistillation is the common method used for extraction of oils and extractives from barks. The yields can be improved by maintaining the bioactivity by using efficient advanced extraction methods such as microwave treatment, ultrasonic extraction, pressurised liquid extraction, sub-critical and super critical fluid extraction methods

Roots are rich in bioactive molecules. Some roots contain bark and in those cases the composition of bioactives change from outer bark to inner bark and the root. Roots are rich in terpenoids, alkaloids and flavonoids. Flavonoids are known to have signalling function in root-rhizosphere and constitute a large part of root exudate. Ginger is one of the well-known roots that is used regularly in Asian culture for its therapeutic properties. Root extracts can be in the form of oils, e.g. ginger oil, dried powders, fresh aqueous extracts etc. The yields can be improved by maintaining the bioactivity by using efficient advanced extraction methods such as microwave treatment, ultrasonic extraction, pressurised liquid extraction, sub-critical and super critical fluid extraction methods.

Floral extracts are known for their healing and calming properties. Floral extracts are rich in pigments and three major group of pigments are betalains, carotenoids and anthocyanins. Betalains and carotenoids are derived from tyrosine and isoprenoids respectively, while anthocyanins are synthesised from flavonoid pathway. All the three pigments are known for their bioactive properties such as anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-allergic and anti-cancer. Flowers are also rich source of other bioactive components such as resins, sterols etc. The bioactive compounds can be selectively extracted and fractionated without denaturing them during the process. The advanced extraction methods include microwave treatment, ultrasonic extraction, pressurised liquid extraction, sub-critical and super critical fluid extraction methods.

Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of fibre, vitamins, phenolics, carotenoids, anthocyanins and tocopherols. Some fruit skin such as citrus, pomegranate, berries, etc are widely known for their anti-oxidant and anti-microbial properties. The pulp and seeds of the vegetables are rich source of vitamins, minerals, fibre, phenolics, etc. that has anti-tumorigenic, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing, immunomodulatory and wound healing properties. The bioactive compounds can be selectively extracted and fractionated without denaturing them. The advanced extraction methods include microwave treatment, ultrasonic extraction, pressurised liquid extraction, sub-critical and super critical fluid extraction methods.

Majority of the seeds are used as source of plant oils (primary), e.g. olive, sunflower, rape, coconut etc. Seeds contain many secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, saponins, phenolics, sterols etc which are normally underutilised and left in the residue of oil extraction. The bioactives composition varies based on the seed part. Seeds are composed of seed coat, endosperm and embryo. Some seeds like contains aril which is an outgrowth that completely covers the seed e.g. nutmeg. Nutmeg kernel and mace (aril) have high concentrations of lignans and neo-lignans which have applications in medical and food sector. Pulse seeds are rich in fibres, phytosterols, polyphenols and anthocyanins. The bioactive compounds can be selectively extracted and fractionated without denaturing the bioactive compounds. The advanced extraction methods include microwave treatment, ultrasonic extraction, pressurised liquid extraction, sub-critical and super critical fluid extraction methods.

Polyphenols, vitamins, hormones, pigments, oils and minerals can be extracted in aqueous fraction leaving polysaccharides and unextracted proteins in the solid fraction of the biomass which can be used for extraction and preparation of phycocolloids. Seaweed liquid extract has gained great popularity as plant growth stimulator and polysaccharides have gained attention for their functional properties. A planned and targeted sequential extraction of all the fractions from seaweed and producing biochar from unutilised carbon can provide a complete circular economy scenario.

Red algae belong to the phylum rhodophyta and is considered as one of the oldest groups of algae. The red color is due to a red protein-pigment complex called phycoerythrin. It also contains other pigments such as chlorphylls and derivatives, xanthophylls and phycocyanin. Red seaweed contains high amounts of polysaccharide and the major polysaccharides are carrageenans, agarans, sulfated galactans (porphyrans) and xylans. These polysaccharides, especially carrageenans are reported to have several function properties such as anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-viral, anti-inflmatory, UV protection, reducing hyper pigmentation etc. Red seaweeds are rich source of n-3 PUFAs, such as eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and polyphenols such as bromophenols and flavonoids, vitamins, hormones, pigments and minerals which can be extracted in aqueous fraction for plant, animal and human uses. Polysaccharides from the residue can be extracted, fractionated and purified for medical, cosmetic and food applications.

Green algae (chlorophyta) contains chlorophylls, carotenoids and xanthophylls as pigments and Ulva (sulfated) as structural polysaccharide. Ulva is a water soluble hetero-polysaccharide and is made of rhamnose, glucuronic acid and xyloglucan. Therapeutic applications of ulvan are in great demand for pharmaceutical and food applications because of its immune-stimulating, anti-viral, anti-cancer, etc activities. Ulva’s fatty acid profile is unique with high levels of alpha linolenic acid and stearidonic acid. The aqueous extract of Ulva rich in pigments, vitamins and polyphenols is used for cosmetic applications. Ulva extract is also rich source of hormones and minerals and is used as plant-growth stimulator. Green extraction methods with no or very little use of chemicals are possible for extraction and fractionation of high-value compounds from Ulva species.

Brown algae, Pheophyceae are algae with fucoxanthin as their major pigment. Fucoxanthin is reported for several bioactive properties such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-tumor, anti-obesity and neuro-protection. The polysaccharides of brown algae vary depending of genus and species. Lamianrin and fucoidans are major water-soluble polysaccharides in brown algae with fucoidans representing the sulphated polysaccharides of brown algae. Alginate is present in relatively small concentrations. Laminarin and fucoidan have a wide application in nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals sectors due to their broad range of biological activities. Brown algae have relatively high concentration of polyphenols compared to green and red algae and they unique type polyphenols called phlorotannins which are oligomers or polymers of phloroglucinol. Phlorotannins are known for their UV protection, metal-chelating properties, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial properties. Phlorotannins can be in free or bound form and hence can be seen in both aqueous extract and polysaccharide residues of the extraction process