Patent ID: 7943190
Filing Date: 2011-05-17
Classification: A23L,B01D

Abstract:
1. A method for sequentially extracting, separating, and recovering phytochemicals from plant materials, comprising: (a) placing a plant material into a temperature-controllable extraction vessel having an inlet and an outlet; (b) providing a flow of subcritical water through the extraction vessel thereby producing an eluant from the plant material; (c) from a starting temperature selected from the range of about 55° C. to about 99° C. to an ending temperature selected from the range of about 100° C. to about 373° C., providing a sequence of increasing temperatures applied to the flow of subcritical water therein the extraction vessel, thereby producing a sequence of sub-volumes of subcritical water, each sub-volume corresponding to a discrete temperature from the sequence of increasing temperatures; and (d) sequentially collecting a sequence of discrete eluant fractions flowing from the outlet, each discrete eluant fraction corresponding to a sub-volume of subcritical water, wherein one of said discrete eluant fractions comprises at least a first phytochemical extracted from the plant material of step (a) and another of said discrete eluant fractions comprises at least a second phytochemical extracted from the plant material of step (a).