The waste from shrimp processing contains various compounds such as proteins, lipids, chitin, carotenoids, minerals and aromatic compounds, whose percentages vary according to species, constituent parts, fishing site and season. Studies on the use of this byproduct by the food sector have been conducted, such as those regarding the flour of shrimp waste, preparation of flavored products, preparation of flavoring powder and even the recovery of the protein fraction of chitin and astaxanthin by enzymatic hydrolysis. In this study, we investigate the characteristics of an extract rich in carotenoids obtained with pressurized carbon dioxide and ethanol as a co-solvent from the cephalothorax of Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp. The operating conditions of the extraction involved two temperatures (40 and 50 degrees C) and two levels of solvent quality (CO2 with and without ethanol). The pressure was gradually increased during each extract collection in 30-min starting at 150 bar and ending at 300 bar in increments of 50 bar. We observed that the productivity was higher in the presence of ethanol acting as a co-solvent at both temperature levels and was more pronounced at 50 degrees C; it was also observed that astaxanthin always appeared in greater amounts with respect to beta-carotene for all experimental conditions evaluated in this study. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.