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Title: SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION OF SEED-OIL FROM VERNONIA GALAMENSIS

Author
item MOHAMED, A - VA ST UNIV PETERSBURG VA
item Taylor, Scott
item King, Jerry
item MEBRAHTU, T - VA ST UNIV PETERSBURG VA
item PAUL, C - VA ST UNIV PETERSBURG VA

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/11/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Vernonia galamensis is a good source of seed oil rich in vernolic acid. Vernonia seeds have high lipase activity in the resting state. This is shown by lipolysis of vernonia oil when seeds are crushed prior to extraction. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) utilizes CO2 in place of solvents. Under different pressures, temperatures and cosolvent concentrations, the extraction fluid can assume a wide range of density an polarity. This study was conducted to determine the optimum conditions for SFE of oil from vernonia seeds. The seeds (V-001) were provided by Vertech, Inc. and were ground with dry ice prior to extraction. SFE was conducted at various pressures, temperatures, modifier concentrations and volumes of CO2. Data showed that increasing pressure and temperature significantly increased oil from 5.4 to 17.3 wt. % and vernolic acid content from 45 to 63 wt. %. A notable reduction in total fatty acid from 69 to 8 mg/g oil was also observed with increasing pressure. Exhaustive extraction of oil and vernolic acid could be attained via SFE with neat CO2 and with ethanol-modified CO2. However, regrinding the matrix after an initial extraction and performing a subsequent extraction was necessary. The extracted oil was characterized using thin layer chromatography, the resulting chromatogram showing variation in the extracted components.