Abstract
The recovery of tocotrienols from palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), a by-product of palm oil, is of economic and environmental interest. In this study tocotrienols were extracted from PFAD using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) at different temperatures (40–60°C) and pressures (20–40 MPa). The optimal process conditions were estimated to be 20 MPa and 53°C for 300 min and a CO2 flow rate of 32 ± 2 g/min, with 16.45 mg/g of tocotrienols extracted. Two modifications to the extraction process were then made at the optimal conditions. First, 180 min of static extraction was added before the dynamic extraction; and second, the solvent polarity was altered by adding 0.075 ml/g ethanol to the scCO2 system. These modifications significantly increased the tocotrienol extraction, to 23.62 mg/g and 30.03 mg/g, respectively. The use of scCO2 for the extraction of tocotrienols shows great potential, which might be extended to other compounds. Novelty impact statement scCO2 extraction is capable to extract tocotrienols from palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) at optimum condition by altering the density of CO2 through manipulating pressure and temperature. The extraction of tocotrienols can be enhanced my slight modification on the scCO2 system or modifying the polarity of the CO2 solvent. The best recovery for tocotrienols extraction from PFAD was by adding 0.075 ml/g ethanol in the scCO2 system.
Published Version
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