Proceedings of International Congress on Bioactive Compounds and International Workshop on Bioactive Compounds
Proceedings of 2nd International Congress on Bioactive Compounds

Pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.) is a native fruit of the Brazilian savanna rich in carotenoids and phenolic compounds with a high lipid content, about 50% in the almond and 33% in the pulp. Since the fruit processing is mostly artisanal, and the almond is surrounded by thorns, it is often treated as waste. Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) is a green alternative for oil extraction with great efficiency in obtaining bioactive compounds such as carotenoids and tocols. The aim of this work was to evaluate the global yield of SFE using CO2 as solvent at different pressures and temperatures, and thus select the best condition for the extraction from pequi almond. SFE was performed using approximately 10 grams of pequi almonds, at pressures of 15, 25 and 35 MPa and temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 °C, with an initial static time of 20 minutes and CO2 flow rate of approximately 10.5 g/min. Extracts were compared in terms of global yield (X0). The best condition was at 35 MPa and 40 °C, with an average X0 of 45.09 ± 2.59 (%, w/w). The results obtained by SFE showed that higher pressures and lower temperatures provide higher yields. Futhermore, lower temperatures prevent the degradation of biactive compounds. SFE appears as a great potential method to obtain oil with bioactive compounds and is more fast and sustainable than conventional techniques.