Essential fatty acids were extracted from Echium amoenum (Boraginaceae) seed oil via supercritical carbon dioxide and the results were compared with conventional Soxhlet method as the base case of 100% recovery. The response surface methodology was used to optimize the effective extraction parameters. The chemical composition of recovered oil was analyzed by polar and non-polar gas chromatograph-flame ionization detector columns. The experimental results indicated that echium seed contained 25 wt% oil and the maximum extraction oil recovery of 92% was obtained via supercritical CO(2) at optimal operating conditions (43°C, 280 bar, 1.5 mL/min, 25 min static time and 130 min dynamic time). At similar operating conditions, applying 2.5 and 5 mol% ethanol as a modifier enhanced the recovery to 96 and 112%, respectively. The results showed that supercritical fluid extraction is a viable technique for separation of constituents such as γ-linolenic acid (7-8%), palmitic acid (6-7%), stearic acid (3-4%), oleic acid (12-13%), linoleic acid (19-20%), α-linolenic acid (40-41%) and stearidonic acid (8-9%) from Boraginaceae.
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