Botanicals is another term for plants. Botanicals are rich in bioactive compounds (so-called phytochemicals), which are used e.g. to produce health-promoting dietary supplements, food and beverage additives, medicines, or active ingredients in cosmetic products. Botanical ingredients can be produced from various plant parts, e.g. herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, leaves, seeds, or bark.
In order to separate the active ingredient from the plant, a extraction method is required. Bioactive compounds such as vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenes etc. can be extracted by various extraction techniques such as infusion, steam distillation, maceration or solvent extraction. These extraction processes are often time-consuming, inefficient or involve toxic chemicals.
High-performance ultrasonication is a process intensifying technique, which accelerates the extraction of phytochemicals, increases the extraction yield and allows often for the use of milder, non-toxic solvents (e.g. water, ethanol, glycerine, vegetable oils etc.). As a non-thermal method, ultrasonic extraction prevents the thermal degradation of temperature-sensitive compounds and results in high-quality extracts.
Read more about the ultrasonic extraction and its advantages!