Extraction of oils from wheat germ with supercritical carbon dioxide.

Abstract

The separation of oil from wheat germ by extracting with supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) is described. The solubility of wheat germ oil in supercritical CO2 at 200 atm and 40°C was about 0.35 weight%. The effect of pressure on the extraction process with liquid or supercritical CO2 was of great significance. On the other hand, the effect of temperature on the extraction process was small. Oil extracted with supercritical CO2 was lighter in color and contained less phosphorus than that extracted with hexane. The contents of α- and β-tocopherol in the oil extracted with supercritical CO2 were comparable to those in the hexane-extracted oil