ALTEX will show in VITAFOODS its supercritical CO2 extraction services to obtain natural, healthy and sustainable products (GMP & ECO certified)

Food products, nutraceuticals , API , cosmetics , drugs … Altex gives access to supercritical CO₂ extraction technology offering toll manufacturing services for a wide number of products, in a profitable way for companies and minimizing risks.

Fine oils extracted from products like nuts, chia, rosehip, garlic, coffee, chamomile, or pepper, to be used in nutraceutical and cosmetic products; low fat products, vegetable proteins and fine oils, also antioxidants or pigments, so required by the food industry; or the removal of unpleasant tastes, microbes, pesticides from spices or herbs are applications reached in Altex.

Altex is AINIA´s high pressure CO₂ industrial plant. It is a versatile and multi-product facility, specialized in toll manufacturing productions, with the objective of providing access to advanced extractions, purifications and specific materials treatments to food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies. This 4,000 L capacity plant works with CO₂ extraction in subcritical and supercritical conditions (from subcritical to 350 bar) and has a manufacturing system based on GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices). Besides, ORGANIC / ECO / BIO certification is available.

In order to show these advanced technological services to the companies, ALTEX will be in VITAFOODS, a benchmark event where exhibitors from all over the world present their innovations in ingredients and nutraceuticals. ALTEX will be in booth D176, where you will be able to contact the technical team and to know in detail the numerous applications of the plant and services.

Altex, supercritical CO₂ extraction

CO₂ in supercritical or subcritical state is a completely harmless fluid that under certain conditions of pressure and temperature has unique features to be used in extraction processes. When operating conditions exceed the critical point, CO₂ becomes a powerful solvent for separating substances in an effective, fast and completely clean way, without generating anywaste. This separation of active ingredients takes place at very mild temperatures that preserves the active molecules and the organoleptic quality of the product.

After twenty years of research and technological development at AINIA, its industrial plant ALTEX with a versatile purpose is one of the few in the world able to offer from small tests, to the first industrial scale-up trials and profitability studies and up to outsourced toll manufacturing production in a cost-effective way and minimizing risks.

Solutions for the nutraceutical industry, additives and food manufacturer

Consumers demand healthy, nutritious and natural products, but also products ready-to-eat (convenience), with an extended shelf life and hedonic food that meets their emotions.

Manufacturers of dietary products, nutraceuticals, food supplements and food products in general need to provide safe and affordable solutions in line with these trends. CO₂ extraction is a cost-effective and natural alternative in order to obtain high-quality ingredients and also to remove undesirable impurities.

Low-fat product and fine oils to enrich food, fatty components removal from raw materials such as cocoa, almonds, walnuts…; and also ingredients for nutraceutical products and food supplements: extraction of pomegranate seed oil, rosemary, garlic oil, algae oils, etc., are some examples of processes that can be done in Altex. But Altex also leads to hedonic and functional ingredients, such as the hop extract to produce beer, essential oils, pigments and antioxidant ingredients. Finally, Altex also offers very interesting solutions for impurities removal such as microbes and other contaminants from imported products, flavours or disgusting odours and pesticides from spices or herbs.

Potential for the cosmetic industry

Solvent-free oils with ECO / ORGANIC / BIO certification are applied to functional cosmetics as well as natural extracts for the development of fragrances and creams are more and more demanded by the cosmetic industry. Supercritical extraction with CO₂ is a demanded industrial process to obtain them. In this area, some examples of pure oils in the market and currently obtained with CO2 are oils from rosehip, pepper, pomegranate, juniper, cardamom and chamomile, for example.

Supercritical extraction compared with conventional technologies

CO₂ extraction at high pressures is more profitable, natural and environmentally sustainable than traditional techniques that employ aggressive solvents and affect the properties of the extracted ingredients, either in further refining stages or due to fact that they achieve lower yields.

If you are interested in learning more about the high pressure CO₂ extraction technology, as well as examples of applications and services in Altex, you may find us on stand D176 in VITAFOODS.

In addition, you can also have information about other complementary AINIA technology solutions, such as microencapsulation solutions, advances in bioproduction, besides experiences and services in sensory analysis and consumer studies.