Phase Behavior of (Co2 + Dichloromethane +Passion Fruit Seed Oil) and (Co2 +Dichloromethane + Passion Fruit Seed Oil + Plga)systems

Abstract

-Large amount of passion fruit seeds are misspent after juice production. Heat and light can cause loss or reduction of seed oil antioxidant and antitumor activities. Thus, co-precipitation with polymers by Supercritical AntiSolvent process (SAS) may be used to preserve important compounds. This work aimed to study the phase behavior of the systems 1) CO 2 + dichloromethane+ seed oil and 2) CO 2 + dichloromethane+ seed oil+ PLGA (poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid), to determine the operational conditions to be employed on future SAS assays. The static synthetic method was applied using different CO 2 compositions (60 -98.8 wt %) and temperatures (35 and 45 °C). Liquid-vapor, liquid-liquid and liquid-liquid-vapor phase transitions were observed. Conditions suggested to proceed the SAS encapsulation study are: 35 °C to preserve extract quality, CO 2 concentration between 92.5 and 97.0 %, ensuring its action as anti-solvent, and pressure above 75 bar to guarantee a single phase equilibrium.