Ionic Liquids

Abstract

The significant potential of ionic liquids (ILs) in the extraction and separation of valuable products from food samples is deeply discussed in this chapter, where the main studies on the application of ionic liquids to food analysis are presented. The novel extraction strategies reviewed in this chapter have the potential to significantly enhance the extraction yield, in particular when the combination of ionic liquids with accelerated and green extraction techniques, such as microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) or subcritical water extraction (SBWE) are used. ILs are considered environmentally-friendly solvents and they offer some advantageous properties which are particularly relevant in extraction systems in food matrices, such as their low toxicity and volatility and different polarity, hydrophobicity and selectivity. A particular section is devoted to microextraction techniques with ionic liquids, which have shown great performance in the extraction of valuable compounds for a variety of food samples. This chapter summarizes and gives an overview of the latest developments and applications of ILs in the extraction of bioactive compounds from food.