Supercritical CO2 Extraction of Chlorophyll a from Spirulina platensis with a Static Modifier

Supercritical CO₂ extraction with a static modifier was applied to extract chlorophyll a from Spirulina platensis. The effects of the process were investigated by single‐factor and response surface analysis experiments. The optimal process parameters for supercritical CO₂ extraction were determined to be: ethanol/water as the modifier, 40 vol.‐% water content in the modifier, 21.2 mL modifier volume, 1 h static soaking time, 2 h dynamic extraction time, 48.7 MPa extraction pressure, 326.4 K extraction temperature, and 10 g min^–1 CO₂ flow rate. The optimized chlorophyll a extraction yield was 6.84 mg g^–1. A comparison of the experimental results suggested that the yield of chlorophyll a by supercritical CO₂ extraction with modifier was higher than that obtained by conventional solvent extraction.