In this work, supercritical CO2 extraction has been performed on the calyx of Chinese lantern and the influences of various process variables such as extraction pressure, temperature, and powder particle size on the time-dependent extraction yield profiles were investigated. The global extraction yield is observed to increase with increase in pressure or temperature but decrease as the powder particle size increases. The maximum yield experimentally obtained in 200 min is 16.16 mg/100 g raw material at 50 degrees C and 40 MPa. The time-dependent extraction files are correlated by using two empirical Naik and Barton models, and three theoretical Martinez, diffusion-layer-theory and Crank models. The calculation results reflect that the two-parameter Naik and Barton models both lead to the best correlations against kinetic experimental data, resulting in an average absolute relative deviation (AARD) of 1.47% and 2.01%, respectively. The one-parameter Crank model has produced excellent performance to describe the extraction process with an AARD value of 4.40% and might be used for prediction purpose. The stability analysis results show that sunshine, high temperatures and exposure to ions of iron or aluminum are detrimental to the stability of carotenoids-containing calyx extracts. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.