The supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of acylphloroglucinol derivatives from Dryopteris wallichiana and Elaphoglossum erinaceum was investigated and modeled. The plants were submitted to extraction with supercritical fluid at constant temperature (40 degrees C) and pressures of 90, 120, 150, 200, 250 and 300 bar, successively, as well as to conventional ultrasound assisted extraction using n-hexane. The extracts were dewaxed affording fractions which were analyzed by HPLC-PDA and submitted to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectra showing singlets at very low field indicating the presence of compounds with enolizable beta-triketones systems. The spectra shed the presence of other signals which characterize acylphloroglucinol derivatives. Mathematical modeling was performed to fit the experimental data obtained at 90 bar. All the extracts of both plants displayed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The supercritical fluid extraction of phloroglucinols from both ferns was more selective than the conventional solvent extraction using n-hexane. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.