OBTENÇÃO DO ÓLEO DA AMÊNDOA DO PEQUI POR CO2 SUPERCRÍTICO

Abstract

Caryocar brasiliense Camb., Popularly known as pequi, is a fruit from pequizeiro that is abundant in the Brazilian cerrado, being a great source of nutrients. The use of supercritical fluids in extractions is intended to extract the compound effectively without leaving residues in the sample. Given the abundance and absence of studies related to the supercritical extraction of pequi almond oil, this work aimed to extract pequi almond oil using supercritical carbon dioxide, evaluate the best extraction conditions and characterize the active compounds and fatty acids. Extraction experiments were performed with Box-Behnken design to evaluate the effects of temperature (313-333 K), pressure (150-250 bar) and volumetric flow (2-5 g min-1). In this way the best extraction condition was 250 bar pressure, 318.15 K temperature and 5 g / min flow, where it obtained a yield of 17.3%. The quadratic model of the second order presented good fit for the kinetic curves and all variables (pressure, temperature and flow) significantly influenced the yield. Pequi almond oil showed large amounts of squalene stigmasterol, oleic fatty acid and palmitic fatty acid.