Extraction of Kiwifruit Seed (Actinidia Deliciosa) Oil Using Compressed Propane

This study reports the extraction of kiwifruit seed oil using compressed propane as solvent and its modeling based on the Brunauer-ETmmett-Teller theory of adsorption. Temperature and pressure were the variables investigated on the kinetics of extraction. The overall extraction yields were compared with the Soxhlet extraction with n-hexane. Most of extraction conditions using compressed propane have presented high extraction rates and overall extraction yield of 31.71.4%. The kinetic model used showed to be able and very reliable to correlate the different conditions of extraction with compressed propane. Furthermore, the alternative extraction technique investigated in this work was found to be suitable for the oil extraction from kiwifruit seeds after short times of extraction. Practical ApplicationsCompressed propane extraction is an environment-friendly technology that can be efficiently used in oilseed extractions. A product that is free of residual solvent and without degradation of thermolabile compounds highlights the use of compressed propane as solvent for applications in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The kiwifruit seed oil, which is predominately constituted by -linolenic acid (ALA), was efficiently extracted using compressed propane with a maximum extraction yield in a short time of extraction. The mathematical model applied to represent the kinetics of extraction is based on three parameters with physical meaning and it may be easily and reliably used in modeling, design, simulation and optimization, as well as in the scale-up of this extraction process.