SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL FATS WITH CO2 - A MINI REVIEW

The application of supercritical fluid extraction techniques in vegetable and animal fats is reviewed. Most of the published work has dealt with applications of supercritical CO2 to extract vegetable oils. In general, the efficiency of the extraction increases with pressure as well as with temperature, provided the pressure is higher than 345 bar. The use of entrainers to enhance the extraction of lipids was also taken into account. Since the glycerides containing polyunsaturated fatty acids have important pharmacological applications, some procedures have been developed for extraction of these compounds from animal fats. Considerable work has been carried out on the extraction of cholesterol from fat. Fractionation of milk fat yields fractions with short- and medium-chain fatty acids enriched in cholesterol and fractions with medium- and long-chain fatty acids low in cholesterol.