Abstract
Xanthones from mangosteen pericarp (MP) are bioactive compounds with promising pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. However, their efficient and selective extraction using environmentally friendly solvents remains a challenge. This study aimed to evaluate tricaprylin (C8) and tricaprin (C10) as novel green co-extractants in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) extraction for the recovery of xanthones from MP, using a mass ratio of C8:C10 = 0.64:0.36, hereafter referred to as C8/C10, and to model extraction kinetics for process design and scale-up. Extraction performance was investigated using different C8/C10-MP mass ratios and scCO(2) conditions at temperatures of 60 °C and 70 °C and pressures of 250 bar, 350 bar, and 450 bar. A pseudo-first-order kinetic model was applied to describe the extraction profile, and the kinetic parameters were generalized using second-order polynomial functions of temperature and pressure. The highest xanthone yield (39.93 ± 0.37%) and total xanthone content (51.44 ± 2.22 mg/g) were obtained at a 40% C8/C10-MP ratio under 70 °C and 350 bar, where the C8/C10 mixture outperformed other tested co-extractants in both efficiency and selectivity, particularly for α-mangostin. The extraction profiles were well described by the pseudo-first-order kinetic model, and the generalized model predicted the extraction yield with an uncertainty of 2.3%. C8/C10 is a highly effective and scalable co-extractant for scCO(2) extraction of xanthones, offering a foundation for industrial applications in food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical sectors.