Supercritical fluid extraction of oil from spent Tucumã-do-Amazonas (Astrocaryum aculeatum) peel

Abstract

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was applied to obtain oil from the tucumã-do-Amazonas (Astrocaryum aculeatum) peel (TAP). SFE was performed using CO₂ as solvent at different pressures and temperatures. The extracts were characterized for their global yield, lipid content, fatty acid and triacylglycerol profiles, carotenoid and tocopherol content and infrared spectra by FTIR. Mathematical modeling of the SFE curves was also performed using the three-line Spline model. The global yield was approximately 17 g/100 g TAP, with the oil consisting mainly of triacylglycerols of oleic, linoleic, palmitic, and stearic acids, and carotenoid content of 80.62 mg β-carotene/100 g extract and 13.49 mg β-carotene/100 g TAP obtained at 35 MPa and 40 °C. The observed FTIR spectra are similar to those reported in the literature for other vegetable oils, exhibiting minor differences in band frequency and transmittance intensity. The three-line Spline model successfully described the kinetic behavior of SFE for TAP, indicating that SFE at 35 MPa and 40 °C is an efficient method for obtaining oil from TAP with an extraction time of 40 min. Therefore, TAP can be considered a potential source of bioactive compounds that can be recovered using SFE, an environmentally sustainable extraction method, allowing this residue to be repurposed into a potential oil suitable for food, health, and cosmetic applications.