Extraction/fractionation and deacidification of wheat germ oil using supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract

-Wheat germ oil was obtained by mechanical pressing using a small-scale screw press and by supercritical extraction in a pilot plant. With this last method, different pressures and temperatures were tested and the tocopherol concentration in the extract was monitored during extraction. Then supercritical extracted oil as well as commercial pressed oil were deacidified in a countercurrent column using supercritical carbon dioxide as solvent under different operating conditions. Samples of extract, refined oil and feed oil were analyzed for free fatty acids (FFA) and tocopherol contents. The results show that oil with a higher tocopherol content can be obtained by supercritical extraction-fractionation and that FFA can be effectively removed by countercurrent rectification while the tocopherol content is only slightly reduced.

Extraction of oil and minor lipids from cold-press rapeseed cake with supercritical CO2

“…Supercritical CO 2 (SC-CO 2 ) allows fast and efficient extractions of oils that deteriorate less and demand less refinement to remove undesirable contaminants than oils extracted using conventional nonpolar solvents. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering has pusblished a series of articles on the use of the technology for the extraction of vegetable oil from rice bran (Sarmento et al, 2006), wheat germ (Zacchi et al, 2006) and macadamia nuts (Silva et al, 2008).…”

Optimization and evaluation of wheat germ oil extracted by supercritical CO₂

“…Therefore SFE has received increased attention as a promising alternative to conventional extraction methods over the last decades. There are several reports on the extraction of oil (Panfili et al, 2003;Shao et al, 2008;Zacchi et al, 2006), tocopherol (Ge et al, 2002) and antioxidants (Gelmez et al, 2009) from wheat germ by SFE. The effect of temperature, pressure and CO 2 flow rate on oil yield (Shao et al, 2008), as well as the effect of pressure, temperature and extraction time on the antioxidant (phenolics and tocopherols) purity of the extracts obtained from roasted wheat germ have been studied.…”

Effect of temperature and storage time of wheat germ on the oil tocopherol concentration

“…It is a by product of industrial wheat milling, being separated from the endosperm during this process, and used mainly as forage and as a source from which oil is extracted. It is a valuable product for its nutritious and pharmaceutical properties (Itoh, 1973;Barnes, 1983;Kahlon, 1989;Bramley et al, 2000;Zacchi et al, 2006;Eisenmenger and Dunford, 2008).…”