The mucilage may tend to form emulsions, but things I would try include:
Solvent extraction starting with hexane and increasing polarity (hexane, ethyl acetate, followed by dichloromethane). If you do get an emulsion, small volumes of the emulsion can be broken on a centrifuge.
Alternatively, perhaps freeze-drying the mixture and trying to use the solvents listed above to dissolve compounds. I would follow those solvents with methanol as well. Try to make the dried material into a powder to give more surface area for extraction.
Yes, you can test for biological activity in the various extracts.