The objective of the work was to optimize the extraction of Persea indica L bioactive compounds by means of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and analyze their insecticidal effects. P. indica L is one of the dominant species of the Canarian laurel forest, a relict of the Tertiary flora. Different extraction conditions (pressure, plant material particle size, temperature, CO2 flow) and the influence of entrainer were tested and the evolution of the extracted compounds was screened by HPLC-MS. A comparison with conventional techniques such as hydrodistillation (HD) or organic solvent extraction (OSE) was also presented. Particularly, four CO2 densities ranging from 628.61 kg/m(3) to 839.81 kg/m(3) were studied in the range of 10.0-20.0 MPa and 40-50 degrees C. The extracts contained insecticidal ryanodanes of great interest, previously described as insecticidal components of P. indica. The insecticidal antifeedant activity of selected extracts was inspected. A model based on mass transfer equations, the Sovova model, was successfully applied to correlate the experimental data. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.