Fermented plant extracts (FPE) are functional foods that have been very popular in China, Japan and Korea where they form part of a cultural experience in food and medicine. Ayurveda is the subcontinent has described the fermentation process thousands of years ago which lost acceptance amongst modern scientific scrutiny due to a lack of standardization and validation potential.
Various plants including cereals, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables, edible fungi (although not plant), and medicinal plants are potential FPE targets. FPEs are fermented by various microorganisms, such as yeast, lactic acid bacteria(LAB), and acetic acid bacteria(Blandino, Al-Aseeri, Pandiella, Cantero, & Webb, 2003), to produce beverages, functional foods and even traditional medicine.
Modern extraction involves the use of solvents ( methanol, ethanol, acetone, Pet Ether, hexane, benzene etc) that are known to be hazards. Ethanol which is not a petrochemical like the others is the only natural extraction solvent that finds acceptance in the market place. However, availability and costs make methanol a preferred solvent to ethanol.
Development of extraction technologies are mostly focused on equipment optimization and less harmful processes. Amsar Goa, has been developing GREEN TECHNOLOGIES that meet the environmental, safety and clinical requirements of a highly developed marketplace.
At Amsar Goa, we have met those challenges with the application of scientific process controls that allow us to extract the goodness of nature in the most optimum form, whilst eliminating hazardous chemicals/solvents and offering a wide range of herbal extracts for cosmetic, nutraceutical, phytoceutical applications.