The chemical composition of redspotted shrimp (Penaeus paulensis) waste was investigated The shrimp waste (freeze-dried heads, shells and tails) was found to have high protein (49% d w) and ash (27% d w.) contents, but a low lipid content (4.9% d w.) although the latter was higher than those found in other kinds of shrimp captured in Brazil. The fatty acid compositions showed that the lipids had a high content of unsaturated fatty acids, mainly EPA (C20 5, n-3) and DHA (C22 6, n-3). In order to establish an efficient and environmentally friendly recovery process for the astaxanthin (principal carotenoid and antioxidant present in the waste), the following processes were examined. traditional solvent extraction (TSE), super-critical fluid extraction (SC-CO(2)) and super-critical fluid extraction with co-solvent (SC-CO(2) + ethanol). The temperature and pressure conditions for all the SC-CO(2) extractions were 50 degrees C and 30 0 MPa The results showed that the mixture of 60% (v/v) n-hexane.isopropyl alcohol gave the highest (53 mg/kg waste) carotenoid extraction yield as compared to acetone, SC-CO(2) and SC-CO(2) + ethanol The SC-CO(2) showed the lowest extraction yield of astaxanthin, but the addition of the entrainer (10% w/w) produced an important effect, increasing the astaxanthin extraction to values of 57 9%, similar to extraction with acetone (63.3%). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved