Aerogel

Supercritical technology applied to obtain aerogel particles as carriers of passion fruit bagasse extract rich in phenolic compounds

The increasing demand for products from green process has promoted the development of products that are produced through environmentally friendly techniques and supply the nutritional needs of the consumers. Aerogel microparticles for use in foods and drugs, which protect the core material from damage caused by extreme pH values, oxygen and light, are examples of such products. Aerogels have unique characteristics that give them several advantages for loading of target compounds. Production processes as those that use supercritical fluids are known as green technologies because they do not use toxic solvents. The present research project aims applying supercritical technology to produce aerogel microparticles loaded with phenolic extract obtained from passion fruit bagasse. The particles will be produced with natural polysaccharides, starch and alginate. The project is divided in six steps: i) obtaining starch and alginate hydrogel by emulsification and atomization; ii) replacement of water to ethanol to obtain alcoogel; iii) use of supercritical CO₂ drying to obtain aerogel; iv) obtaining the phenolic extract from passion fruit bagasse with pressurized liquid extraction; v) loading the extract into the aerogel particles using supercritical CO_2; and vi) studying the controlled release of the extract. The aerogel microparticles will be analyzed in terms of their morphology, interaction between the aerogel and the extract, loading efficiency and extract release. The production of spherical particles of aerogel micrometrical size, high porosity, high specific surface area and low bulk density is expected, as well as supercritical technology is expected to produce aerogel particles loaded with phenolic extract without affecting the structural characteristics of the particles.

Financing agency: FAPESP (2016-02007-0)