Nutraceuticals production plants

One of the more important criteria for operating a nutraceuticals extraction plant is obtaining raw material that meets the requirements of the process to produce the desired products. Many important issues need to be considered when purchasing... 

Some of the most popular nutraceutical products marketed today are botanicals such as St. John s wort, echinacea, ginkgo biloba, saw palmetto, and ginseng. Unfortunately, manufacturers are not required to prove their safety or efficacy before marketing them. Dosages are not standardized. The quality of the raw source and the plant parts used are not regulated. And, unlike prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicines, there is no federal quality... 

In summary, we have attempted in this review to provide some understanding of the basic concepts involved in the use of critical fluids and to explain how these fluids are now exploited for the production of nutraceutical and other naturally derived products. Several illustrative examples have been provided of processing concepts and equipment, from the laboratory scale through production plants. There now exists an extensive 30-year history of critical fluid processing technology upon which to draw, replete with many examples of components having nutraceutical value that have been already extracted, fractionated, and reacted in these dense fluids. 

In addition, recently increasing demands of consumers for alternative and preventive health management have stimulated a rapid and exponential growth of the supplement and nutraceutical marlst. All these supplements and nutraceuticals are derived from plants, particularly herbal materials. The long history of using herbs for medical and culinary purposes in Oriental culture has been a valuable source for the development of these supplement and nutraceutical products. 

Genomic and molecular tools have made great impacts on plant biotechnology and offer potential for manipulation of carotenoids as natural colorants and also for applications in human and animal health. While microbial and other non-plant systems have been successfully used, plant modification eliminates need for expensive bioreactors and offers economically feasible opportunities for less developed nations for production of nutraceuticals and other chemical products. 

While poisonous plants on grazing lands have a significant impact on livestock production throughout the world, the natural toxins (secondary metabolites) in the plant may have multiple and diverse functions, not only for the plant world but also for the benefit of mankind. Many current pharmaceuticals have been chemically optimized from natural toxins of plant origin. New plant compounds and familiar compounds with renewed interest, e.g., nutraceuticals, herbal preparations, nutritional supplements, etc, are increasingly finding their value in human nutrition and health. 

Recent developments in the area of oils and fats has led to the production of specialty lipids from novel sources such as fruit seeds, nuts, and other minor plant sources. In addition, preparation of structured lipids for a myriad of applications has been of interest. Minor components of oils and fats may be isolated during processing and used as nutraceutical and functional food ingredients. Examples are lecithin, phytosterols, tocopherols, and tocotrienols, among others. Obviously, the health-promoting potential of such products is also of interest. 

Many phytochemicals and nutraceutical ingredients are derived from botanicals. In the manufacture of many of these nutraceuticals, processes begin with the extraction of plant materials using a suitable solvent. Many technologies and types of equipment exist to achieve this solid-liquid extraction. To successfully choose and operate the proper equipment for producing the desired product in an economic manner, the fundamentals of equilibrium and mass transfer must be understood. Once these fundamentals are understood, they can be applied to the botanical raw material of interest and the chemical properties of the desired phytochemical to select and operate the most cost-effective extraction equipment. 

In the food industry, these natural products have now been classified under a new class of food called nutraceuticals or functional foods, because these products provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition 22, 23). According to Wilkinson 24), most of the nutraceuticals used in the food industry are plant derived. Further, Addae-Mensah (25), showed that the world trade in medicinal plants accounts for about 30% of the total dmg market and was estimated excluding plants used as raw material sources for the essential oils required to manufacture cosmetics, food additives and other non-medicinal purposes. The increased recogiution of the value of natural products in the pharmaceutical, neutraceutical, cosmetic and other industries have created a huge demand for raw natural products. By taking Rooibos tea as an example from South Africa, Wilson 26) in detail describes the demand for Rooibos from different countries. However, for many natural products estimation of the actual demand is very difficult and the data sparse given the diversity of natural products used across industries and production variation within and across countries and the lack of... 

The properties of natural products obtained from plants, fungi, animals, and other organisms of terrestrial or marine origin have intrigued mankind for millennia, in particular those products that exert an effect (i.e., have a particular bioactivity) on humans or other organisms. Such compounds have long been used as nutraceuticals, social elixirs, intoxicants, drugs of abuse, or as therapeutics. 

Despite decades of research, there still remains a vast scope for new natural products to be discovered and isolated from microbial, marine, arthropod, or plant organisms and used as nutraceuticals or pharmaceuticals. Such tasks will require access to more sophisticated and better optimized separation and identification methodologies. To this end, it will also be the responsibility of future generations of natural product scientists... 

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