Study of the Efficacy of Two Extraction Techniques from Crithmum maritimum and Salicornia europaea

The aim of this work was to study the characteristics of the extracts from two halophytes, sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum L.) and marsh samphire (Salicornia europaea L.) that naturally grow on the Mediterranean coast, by using ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). Best conditions for UAE were found at temperature 50°C, 20 min extraction time, 1:30 ratio solid:solvent and 40% (v/v) ethanol concentration. For SFE best conditions were at 50°C and 300 bar pressures with 40% (v/v) ethanol concentration. Total extract yield, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity of the extracts were measured. For both species the best results were obtained with UAE technique. Between the two halophytes, the C. maritimum extract was the richest one in antioxidant compounds (total phenol = 23.44 mg GAEs gdw-1); under the best conditions the S. europea extract allowed recording only 9.31 mg GAEs gdw-1 of total phenol.