Box-Behnken Design of Co-precipitation of Habanero Chili Pepper (Capsicum chinense) Ethanolic Extract and Polyvinylpyrrolidone by CO2 Supercritical Antisolvent
摘要
The supercritical-CO₂ anti-solvent (SAS) process was employed to co-precipitate ethanolic extract of red habanero chili pepper (HEE) with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), aiming to produce microparticles. HEE was obtained using ethanol as a solvent through ultrasound-assisted extraction. A Box–Behnken design evaluated the effects of pressure (80–160 bar), temperature (35–55 °C) and HEE solids/PVP mass ratio (1/1–1/3) on particle morphology, yield and capsaicinoids retention. Resulting microparticles exhibited median diameters range (d50) from ∼2 µm to 390 µm, and their total capsaicinoids content varied between 3.7 and 106.8 mg/g. Pressure was identified as the most significant variable influencing yield and particle formation, while PVP ratio strongly affected capsaicinoids retention and size distribution. At 120 bar, 45 °C, 1/2 HEE solids/PVP the SAS method process produced spherical or near-spherical particles with uniform morphology and significant capsaicinoids load (101 mg TC/g), 17% yield. These findings demonstrate that SAS co-precipitation with PVP is a viable strategy for converting chili-pepper extracts into microparticulate products suitable for food, nutraceutical, or pharmaceutical applications.