Sustainable extraction: a comprehensive review of advancements beyond conventional methods
A. Sreekumaran Nair, Swastika Maity, Vasudev Pai
Abstract
This is a review of sustainable extraction practices and how they can be applied in conjunction with the modern drug delivery systems in case of pharmaceuticals. Traditional methods of extracting, such as solvent extraction, cold pressing, steam distillation, maceration and Soxhlet extraction, have limitations in that they are highly energy-intensive methods, require large amounts of solvent, take a long extraction periods and may cause degradation of thermolabile molecules. Green and sustainable extraction technologies have been transformed by environmental concerns, legislation, economic gains, and technology in the pharmaceutical sector. Some of the most recent state of the art methods discussed are supercritical fluid extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction, Microwave-assisted extraction, enzyme-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, pulsed electric field extraction and deep eutectic solvents. These methods are more efficient, selective and sustainable than the traditional methods. When comparing them using the tenets of green chemistry and life cycle assessment, these new technologies are much better in terms of their environmental performance. Strategic combination of sustainable extraction and nanoparticle-based drug delivery, including phytosomes, nanostructured lipid carriers, and polymeric nanoparticles, is also outlined as a major development achievement. Bioactive compounds are improved in bioavailability and stability on direct encapsulation during extraction. Polyphenol rich extracts, marine lipids derived extracts with botanical alkaloids are all case studies that prove the clinical translational and therapeutic effects of these combined strategies. Critical issues of regulatory considerations, process analytical technologies, and scale-up issues of industrial implementation of integrated extraction-formulation platforms are explored. The review gives practical possibilities to create ecologically friendly and therapeutically efficient phytopharmaceuticals in the intertwining of ecologically successful extraction with nanomedicine.