Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SCCO 2 ) of Chiba seed (Psoralea corylifolia) and LC-MS characterization of the of the extract Manohar Balaraman, Usha Rani Ganni , and Udaya Sankar Kadimi * (Food Engineering, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore 570020, India) E-Mail: udaya@cftri.res.in and Fax:+91-821-2517233 Abstract: The SC CO 2 extracts of Chiba Seeds (Psoralea corylifolia) are obtained at pressures (18, 28 and 38 MPa) and at three temperature (40 o ,50 o and 60 o C) to obtain extracts rich in bakuchiol to optimize the conditions of extraction. The extracts are analyzed for bioactive components bakuchiol, psorlene isopsoralene. Bakuchiol is the main component of interest is obtained by SC CO 2 extraction in substantial quantities (>50%) and the extraction by traditional solvent extraction results in poor recovery as it was found to be thermally labile. Supercritical fluid carbon dioxide extraction (SCFE CO 2 ), a novel method for extraction, more relevant for obtaining thermally labile natural products, is cost effective and eliminates toxic organic waste. The SC-CO 2 extracts were investigated for the occurrence of different components bakuchiol, psoralen, isopsoralen, corylin, psoralidin, bavachromene, isobavachalcone, corylifol A, bavachlcone, Brosimachutin G, bakuchiol and was confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and by Liquid chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) in electron spray ionization (ESI) negative mode. The structures of bakuchiol, sporalen and isosporalen are confirmed by 500 MHz NMR studies. Most of the compounds has reported to have high degree of antibacterial activities and anticancer properties. Key words: psoralea corylifolia, supercritical carbon dioxide, bakuchiol, psoralen, extraction INTRODUCTION: Psoralea corylifolia L., (Chiba seed) is an ancient medicinal plant of India and China and widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for the treatment of various kinds of disorders such as asthma, cough, nephritis, vitiligo and also some skin diseases, e.g., leucoderma, psoriasis and leprosy [1,2].The seeds are refrigerant, alternative, laxative, antipyretic, anthelmintic [3], alexiteric and good for heart troubles. Chemical constituents such as coumarins, flavonoids and meroterpene phenols were isolated from this plant and some of which exhibited antitumour [4], antibacterial and antivirus activities and can affect metabolism of some remedy [5], antifungal activity [6,7], broadening coronary artery and estrogen-like activities [8]. Meroterpene phenol known as bakuchiol is responsible for antioxidant [9], antiplatelet [10, DNA polymerase and topoisomerase II inhibition [11] and osteoblastic proliferation stimulating [12] activities. The seed extract of P. corylifolia showed inhibition of antigen-induced degranuatlion in RBL-2H3 cells [13]. Conventionally, isolation of plant-derived compounds are carried out with organic solvent and Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) extraction offers a promising separation technology for