Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Important bioactive compounds from Brazilian jabuticaba skins were effectively extracted by High Pressure Carbon Dioxide Assisted Extraction (HPCDAE). Statistical design was used to optimize the extraction variables: extraction pressure (65-135 bar), temperature (40-80 degrees C) and volume ratio of solid-liquid mixture/pressurized CO2 (RS-L/CO2(%) (20-80%). The analysis performed to predict the optimum values for the extraction variables, in order to obtain the condition that result in an extract with high anthocyanin (2.2 +/- 0.3 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/g dry skins) and phenolic compound contents (13 +/- 1 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry skins), gave as best conditions, 117 bar extraction pressure, 80 degrees C extraction temperature and 20% volume ratio of solid-liquid mixture/pressurized CO2 (RS-L/CO2 (%)). Compared to Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) and to control experiment the experimental results obtained using optimum HPCD Assisted-Extraction conditions were much more effective and faster in extracting total anthocyanins and phenolic compounds. Industrial relevance: Industrially, there is an increasing demand for faster extraction procedures with reduced organic solvent consumption to lower pollution burden. HPCD Assisted-Extraction combines the advantages of enhanced mass transfer rates increasing secondary metabolite diffusion from the vegetable matrix into the environmentally friendly solvent extraction. High pressure extraction methods, such as HPCD Assisted-Extraction, have other advantages that should be considered, such as the fact that native enzymes, which degrade phenolic compounds, are inhibited by extraction pressure increasing and CO2 addition, and that processed vegetable materials do not require additional sterilization steps. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.123398406Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)CNPq [141894/2009-1]