DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SFE METHOD FOR RAPID-DETERMINATION OF TOTAL FAT-CONTENT OF FOOD

The application of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) for the determination of the total fat content of meat and cheese products as an alternative to the official German solvent extraction is described. Under optimised conditions (40-degrees-C, 410 bar, 750 ml min-1), quantitative lipid extraction could be performed in only 35 min (compared to 5-6 hours by the classicial method) with an average recovery better than 95 %. To determine the total fat content of a food sample, it must be acid-treated before extraction, otherwise, like the solvent extraction, the ''free accessible fat'' content is determined and not the ''total fat'' content. A further advantage of the acid treatment is that the lipids are separated from the particular sample matrix, prior to extraction, and fixed onto a filter. Extraction is, therefore, independent of the sample matrix, which makes this method of interest for many different foods and other samples.