Extraction of whole fruit, seeds and peel of hiprose were studied with carbon dioxide, propane+carbon dioxide and propane as solvents under super- and subcritical conditions. The percentage of extract recovered from seed, whole hipfruit and hippeel was found to be 5.7-6.7, 3.0-3.5 and 0.32-0.42, respectively. The ratios of solvent to plant material, required to attain a complete extraction, were found to be 10 applying CO2 at 35 degrees C and 250 bar, 3 using a solvent mixture rich in propane at 28 degrees C and 100 bar, and 1.1 with propane at 25 degrees C and 50 bar. As determined by high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods the biologically active compounds such as carotenoids and tocopherols occur mainly in the peel of hipfruit. The oils from hip seeds increase extractability of such compounds in SF-CO2 alone or with propane. Of the fatty acid analysed linoleic acid (C18:2) was the most abundant (52-55%) followed by linolenic acid (C18:3) which accounted for 23-24% of the total fatty acid species. No significant changes were observed in fatty acid composition of the extracts as a function of changes in the conditions of sub-and supercritical extraction.