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Clean, green, and solvent-free: The benefits of green extraction techniques

Extraction technology that delivers greater environmental benefits is a core sustainability strategy for manufacturers. We look at some of the most promising techniques.

“Green extraction methods have been introduced to isolate bioactive compounds using sustainable, efficient, and environmentally friendly procedures compared to traditional approaches,” said Myriam Ertz, associate professor of marketing at Université du Québec and head of LaboNFC, the university’s Research Laboratory on New Forms of Consumption. Ertz is also associate editor of the peer-reviewed journal, Frontiers in Sustainability.

“From an operational standpoint, these technologies do not simply ‘replace one solvent with another’ — they often reshape the whole extraction logic,” she said.

Lowering environmental impact, improving yield, and preserving the quality of sensitive compounds are changing how manufacturers operate.

“These methods aim to have a lower environmental impact due to reduced solvent use, lower energy requirements, and higher extraction yields, without loss of compound quality or even with higher-quality extracts,” Ertz added.

Conventional methods such as maceration, percolation, reflux extraction and Soxhlet extraction are now increasingly competing with these green extraction technologies.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction preserves bioactives

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) is known for being an efficient and green alternative to conventional methods. It uses ultrasonic vibrations, typically in the 20 kHz–2000 kHz range, to release bioactive compounds from various plant matrices. As a non-thermal extraction technique, researchers have found it is effective at retaining the functionality of bioactive compounds.

According to 2023 research, UAE primarily enables faster extraction at lower temperatures.

“That matters operationally because it can reduce thermal stress on fragile compounds and shorten batch times,” said Ertz.

Instead of relying mainly on long soaking or heating stages, manufacturers introduce sonication units and optimise power intensity, treatment time and sometimes particle size.

“The process becomes less about ‘more heat and more time’ and more about controlled physical disruption of the raw material,” added Ertz.

Microwave-assisted extraction improves efficiency

Scientists have found that many variables influence extraction efficiency, including solvent properties, volume, exposure duration, microwave control, system attributes, temperature, and application.

Manufacturers can use microwave energy through Microwave-Assisted Extraction (MAE) to rapidly heat the solvent-plant tissue mixture, rupturing and expanding cell walls and facilitating the release of target compounds into the surrounding solvent.

“Microwaves heat both the solvent and plant tissue simultaneously, improving the extraction process,” said Ertz. Furthermore, according to a recent 2025 review, MAE shifts the process away from long conventional heating cycles, resulting in faster ramp-up, shorter residence times, and often smaller solvent volumes.

While this can improve manufacturers’ throughput, it also requires careful control to avoid uneven heating or degradation of sensitive ingredients.

“Equipment design, the material's dielectric properties, and scale-up considerations become more important than in a standard heated-tank extraction,” said Ertz.

Supercritical fluid extraction produces cleaner, solvent-free extracts

Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) involves changing temperature and pressure to create a supercritical fluid state, allowing it to penetrate raw materials like gas but dissolve compounds like a liquid.

Due to its unique state, SFE can be an effective method for selective extraction without the need for harsh organic solvents.

“SFE is a promising method for extracting valuable compounds from natural products,” said Ertz.

A 2024 research study found that this technique also contributes to waste valorisation by converting plant byproducts into value-added extracts.

However, SFE can make the operating environment more pressure-driven – in a literal sense.

Manufacturers need sealed, high-pressure equipment, tighter process control, and operators comfortable managing pressure, flow rate, and temperature as critical variables.

“The trade-off is that they can often avoid large volumes of flammable or toxic solvents, reduce solvent recovery burdens, and produce cleaner extracts with less downstream purification,” said Ertz.

The new operational landscape

From a practical perspective, switching to green extraction technologies means changing manufacturing processes.

“They tend to lower dependence on harsh solvents, they shorten or intensify processing steps, and they shift control from bulk chemistry to more precise process engineering,” said Ertz.

Conventional extraction typically involves longer durations, stronger solvents, and broader heating. Modern green extraction is typically more controlled, selective, and dependent on equipment parameters such as pressure, frequency, electric field intensity, or enzyme activity.

“For manufacturers, that often means a move toward cleaner processing, tighter parameter control, greater automation, and, in many cases, better recovery from the same amount of raw material,” said Ertz.

Modern extraction technologies change operating conditions from relatively simple solvent-based processing toward more tightly controlled equipment-intensive systems.

“The result is a production environment that is generally cleaner and more resource-efficient, but also more technologically demanding,” said Ertz. “This increases the need for sustainable digitalisation, as greater reliance on digital technologies heightens the need to ensure their ethical and sustainable use.”