Valorization of agroindustrial coproducts through obtaining vegetable oils and minority compounds by extraction with solvents

• Grant number: 17/20840-4
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2018 - August 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Christianne Elisabete da Costa Rodrigues
• Grantee: Christianne Elisabete da Costa Rodrigues
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Coproducts from different agroindustrial segments, such as spent coffee, cocoa husks and palm pressed fiber, are generated in large quantities and are usually burned in the industries themselves for power generation. This industrial practice can be changed if strategies of adding value are adopted for the valorization of these materials, which may present very interesting characteristics, such as significant contents of lipids and / or minority compounds. In this sense, it is worth mentioning that the oilseed processing industries use for the extraction of vegetable oils a solvent, a mixture of isomers of n-hexane, which has high flammability and high polluting capacity, besides being considered neurotoxic. In this context, it can be inferred that the proposed research project is supported by the following pillars: minimization of agroindustrial waste with possible production of inputs for the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, using renewable and safe solvents for extraction, such as ethanol. Thus, the aim of this project is to study the technical feasibility of total or partial substitution of the solvent commonly used in the process of extracting vegetable oils by short chain alcohols, ethanol and isopropanol, generally recognized as safe (GRAS), or less toxic hydrocarbons with a low human health risk, such as heptane and cyclohexane. The project will be conducted in three different arms: a) Study of kinetics of extraction and determination of partition coefficients of vegetable oils in extraction experiments under atmospheric pressure using alcohols as solvents; b) Study of the use of mixtures of solvents, hydrocarbons (hexane, heptane and cyclohexane) and alcohols (ethanol or isopropanol), with the choice of the compositions of the mixtures being based on the calculation of solute-solvent distances, according to the Hansen methodology; c) Study of the intensification of the extraction process through the use of pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE), in order to obtain vegetable oils enriched in minor compounds such as chlorogenic acids, alkaloids, flavanoids and carotenoids. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CAPELLINI, MARIA C.; CHIAVOLONI, LARISSA; GIACOMINI, VANESSA; RODRIGUES, CHRISTIANNE E. C. Alcoholic extraction of sesame seed cake oil: Influence of the process conditions on the physicochemical characteristics of the oil and defatted meal proteins. Journal of Food Engineering, v. 240, p. 145-152, JAN 2019. Web of Science Citations: 1.

OKIYAMA, DAYANE C. G.; SOARES, INGRID D.; CUEVAS, MAITE S.; CREVELIN, EDUARDO J.; MORAES, LUIZ A. B.; MELO, MARIZA P.; OLIVEIRA, ALESSANDRA L.; RODRIGUES, CHRISTIANNE E. C. Pressurized liquid extraction of flavanols and alkaloids from cocoa bean shell using ethanol as solvent. Food Research International, v. 114, p. 20-29, DEC 2018. Web of Science Citations: 5.

NAVARRO, SANDRA L. B.; RODRIGUES, CHRISTIANNE E. C. Macadamia Oil Extraction With Alcoholic Solvents: Yield and Composition of Macadamia Oil and Production of Protein Concentrates From Defatted Meal. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF LIPID SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, v. 120, n. 7 JUL 2018. Web of Science Citations: 1.