Recent advances and new challenges of green solvents for the extraction of phenolic compounds from tropical fruits

Abstract Tropical fruits and their by-products show a potential source of bioactive ingredients that are used in the development of new functional foods, nutraceutical supplements, food additives, and cosmetic products. Thus, the extraction of these bioactive ingredients from tropical fruits by green extraction solvents allows the recovery of agro-industrial process waste, with a major industrial, economic, and environmental impact. The selection of a solvent is based on its safety, environment protection, and sustainability. In this chapter, a review about green solvents for the extraction of bioactive compounds (mainly phenolic compounds) from tropical fruits and their by-products was presented, demonstrating that hydroalcoholic mixtures and supercritical carbon dioxide are the green solvents most employed to this end. However, eutectic solvents and ionic liquids were also analyzed although their application in phenolic compounds’ extraction from tropical fruits is still substantially lesser than others.