sustainable extraction and purification of phytochemicals: a review of green solvents and techniques

The importance of phytochemicals in medicine, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics has recently drawn considerable attention toward their sustainable extraction and purification. this review presents the progress in green solvents and methodologies underlined by the drawbacks associated with conventional methods. phytochemicals are bioactive substances derived from plants that are important for medicinal and commercial purposes. however, most classical methods of extraction and purification involve hazardous solvents and energy-intensive operations, raising environmental and safety concerns. green solvents, including ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and bio-based solvents, offer environmentally friendly alternatives with high efficiency and low toxicity. these include supercritical fluid extraction (sfe), ultrasound-assisted extraction (uae), microwave-assisted extraction (mae), pressurized liquid extraction (ple), and enzyme-assisted extraction (eae), all of which are advanced green extraction methodologies. these methods afford higher extraction yields while simultaneously reducing the energy consumption and waste generation. sophisticated purification strategies, including chromatographic techniques, membrane-based purification, and adsorption-desorption procedures, were evaluated for their compatibility with eco-friendly extraction processes. a comparison of the various techniques shows their efficacy, cost, and environmental friendliness. the discussion covers future perspectives, which pinpoint that the development of green solvent formulations, integration of extraction and purification systems, and overcoming of regulatory and scalability challenges are highly needed. this study will be able presents a comprehensive review of sustainable methodologies for the extraction and purification of phytochemicals, which would further help in devising greener, safer, and more efficient approaches in natural product research.