Science and New Technologies Department, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Research Center of Iran
Abstract
Pigments are chemical compounds that absorb light in the wavelength range of the visible region. There are four main classified groups of plants pigment including Chlorophyll, Carotenoids, Flavonoids, and Anthocyanin which have different characteristics. Chlorophyll and Carotenoids are insoluble in water and are found in organelles of cells, while the Flavonoids are water-soluble pigments present in vacuole and cytosol. Various novel techniques including ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, and accelerated solvent extraction have been developed for the extraction of nutraceuticals from plants in order to shorten the extraction time, decrease the solvent consumption, increase the extraction yield, and enhance the quality of extracts.
)
