Industrial Feasibility of Natural Products Extraction with Microwave Technology

The industrial extraction of natural products based on microwave irradiation of plant material and volumetric heating is now an industrial reality. Besides significant reduction in waste generation, manufacturing biomass extracts via microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) leads to such technical, economic, and environmental benefits whose entity, we argue, will end the distillation era of solid-liquid extraction using hydrocarbon solvents.