Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extracts of Schinus terebinthifolia Fruits and their Utilization against Microbial Illness, Lipase, and Butyrylcholinesterase Activities in Vitro

Abstract

The extraction methods used to obtain natural products face some problems, such as solvent toxicity, high extraction time, and low yields. Supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SFE-CO₂) is an encouraging extraction system for obtaining high-yield of natural extracts. In this work, Schinus terebinthifolia fruits were extracted via SFE-CO₂ using two conditions: A (static extraction) (SE) for 15 min, followed by dynamic extraction (DE) for 45 min, and B (without SE but with DE for 60 min). The extract yield was 0.205 g and 0.236 g via condition A and B, respectively. High-performance liquid chromatography assessment revealed the occurrence of several constituents with high quantities in the extract at condition B. The well diffusion test showed inhibition of 26 ± 0.1, 25 ± 0.2, 29 ± 0.1, 33 ± 0.2, 27 ± 0.1, and 8.0 ± 0.1 mm zones using the extract at condition B, while at condition A there were low inhibition zones towards Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas areginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus niger, correspondingly. Lipase (obesity stimulant) and butyrylcholinesterase (Alzheimer stimulant) were inhibited by the extract at condition B with IC₅₀ quantities of 27.03 and 4.83 μg/mL, while it was 37.45 and 17.57 μg/mL, respectively at condition A.