Abstract
Green extraction of natural products was and will always remain an
important research subject in various fields. It is based on developing techniques that
meet the six principles of eco-extraction. This concept responds to the challenges of the
21st century, aiming to protect the environment, the operator, and the consumer by
reducing hazardous solvent consumption and by favoring the use of more
environmentally friendly methods. In this chapter, we review the principles of eco-extraction in detail, followed by an overview of four methods widely used in
extraction, namely ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted
extraction (MAE), subcritical water extraction (SWE), and supercritical fluid extraction
(SFE).