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Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of evening primrose oil
Author(s) -
Favati Fabio,
King Jerry W.,
Mazzanti Monica
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02663760
Subject(s) - evening primrose oil , evening primrose , supercritical carbon dioxide , supercritical fluid , supercritical fluid extraction , extraction (chemistry) , chemistry , chromatography , fatty acid , gamma linolenic acid , carbon dioxide , hexane , organic chemistry , food science , polyunsaturated fatty acid
The oil extracted from the seeds of Oenothera biennis L. (evening primrose) is a major commercial source of gamma‐linolenic acid, a fatty acid having potential therapeutic value in the treatment of several diseases. This fatty acid is prone to oxidation and thermal rearrangement; therefore, the conventional recovery of the oil via mechanical expression and hexane extraction must be carried out under very mild and controlled conditions. In this study, supercritical fluid extraction with carbon dioxide has been employed as an alternative method to recover evening primrose oil (EPO). Extractions were performed over the pressure range of 20–70 MPa and at temperatures from 40 to 60°C, with a CO 2 mass flow rate of 18 g/min. The experimental data permitted the determination of EPO solubility in supercritical CO 2 at the tested extraction conditions. Supercritical fluid Chromatographic analysis of fractions collected during the extraction showed a subtle shift in the triglyceride composition. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis on similar fractions indicated that the fatty acid content was invariant with respect to extraction time.