**10. Economic evaluation at industrial scale of the production process of quinoa protein hydrolysates**

A new method was proposed to obtain protein hydrolysates from quinoa, using supercritical fluids extraction (SFE), CO2 and ethanol as cosolvent as a previous step to separate the fat and phenolic compounds in a single extraction process, and this was compared with the conventional solvent extraction (CSE) [51]. The production of quinoa protein hydrolysate (QPH) using two technologies to extract the oil and separate the phenolic compounds (PC) prior to enzymatic hydrolysis was evaluated: (1) Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and (2) Conventional solvent extraction (CSE). The aim of this study was to compare the oil extraction yield, remaining PC and QPH yield. Furthermore, an economic evaluation and sensitivity study was performed using SuperPro Designer 9.0 software; quinoa grain batches of 1.5 kg (laboratory) and 2500 kg (industrial scale) were considered, as shown in **Figure 4**. Results revealed that SFE allows higher oil yield and separation of PC. The cost of manufacturing (COM) was lower in SFE compared with CSE, US\$ 90.10/kg and US\$ 109.29/kg, respectively, and higher net present value (NPV), US\$ 205,006,000 and US\$ 28,159,000 compared with CSE. The best scenario is when the sale of both byproducts (oil and saponins) is included, the COM is reduced to US\$ 28.90/kg (SFE) and US\$ 57.06/kg (CSE), and profitability also improves. In addition, the significance the COM and NPV was statistically evaluated, there are no significant differences on an industrial scale. Both processes are economically promising, especially when the QPH and by-products are produced in large scale and sold at the current market price (**Figure 11**).

#### **11. Conclusions**

Quinoa is a food that is produced mainly in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador and has nutritional characteristics superior to many vegetables. It is recognized as a complete food due to the quality of proteins, fiber, minerals, and vitamins; in addition to being gluten-free, it has allowed the development of new food products and is even used in an unconventional way as a nutraceutical, in the production of edible films, and as a stabilizing agent for emulsions.

However, quinoa grains have saponin, an anti-nutritional factor that can be eliminated by wet or dry methods, although there are some disadvantages such as highwater consumption, loss of essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, among others. It is therefore important to promote new methods of saponin elimination together with the development of breeding programs for quinoa varieties with low saponin content to improve yields per hectare.

## *Nutritional Value, Methods for Extraction and Bioactive Compounds of Quinoa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101891*

The type of pretreatment with SFE and CSE applied to quinoa flour prior to enzymatic hydrolysis influences on the oil yield, remaining phenolic compounds and hydrolysate yield. The significance analysis of the factors considered shows that there is no significant effect on the COM and NPV of the QPH production at industrial scale between each technology; however, the pretreatment with SFE allows obtaining a lower COM and higher NPV, the sensitivity study and the evaluated scenarios show an additional income generated by the sale of by-products such as saponins and oils. Finally, it is corroborated by the values obtained, which as the scale of production increases, the manufacturing cost decreases for both technologies, making the production of quinoa protein hydrolysate viable at an industrial level.
