Since 1996, ARKOPHARMA has been equipped with two SUPERCRITICAL CO2 EXTRACTORS:
 • one pilot extractor
 • one industrial extractor (1997).

The SUPERCRITICAL CO2 EXTRACTION technique uses carbon dioxide which, under certain pressure and temperature conditions, behaves like a solvent on the lipid parts of plants.
This ultramodern, efficient technique has many advantages:
 • it makes it possible to work at a moderate temperature (about 40°C), which does not denaturate the organoleptic qualities and active principles of the extract obtained, which are then very close to those of the plant raw material,
 • moreover, it makes it possible to obtain 100% natural extracts free from any extraction solvent residues.

Indeed, at the end of the extraction process, an expansion phase (by pressure reduction) causes the carbon dioxide to go from the supercritical state to the gaseous state, which enables it to be removed completely from the CO2 extract obtained.
Before supercritical CO2 extraction, the plant raw material is first freeze-ground. This modern technology, consisting of a phase during which the raw material is frozen prior to grinding, makes it possible to avoid any heating of the plant during grinding.
Along the whole of the manufacturing chain, the CO2 extracts are obtained with a constant care for quality. Supercritical CO2 extraction is thus a further stage in the quest for ever more perfect quality. We have just got the certification for the installations allowing to get from now on, natural, supercritical and organic extracts.