Evaluation of different ethanol co-solvents for the oil extraction from soybean collets

• Grant number: 22/02434-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2022
• End date: June 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Christianne Elisabete da Costa Rodrigues
• Grantee: Isabela Cecília Rodrigues Souza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/21252-0 - Equilibrium and production processes of biofuels and bioproducts, AP.TEM

Abstract

The solvent commonly used in the industrial extraction of vegetable oils is a mixture of n-hexane isomers, which presents chemical stability and high extraction capacity of triacylglycerols. On the other hand, it has disadvantages such as high toxicity, flammability, and high polluting capacity when not properly recovered since it is of fossil origin. Due to the health and environmental risks associated with this solvent, other substances have been studied for the extraction of vegetable oils. Ethanol presents itself as one of the most promising alternative solvents since it is less toxic than hexane, can be obtained from renewable sources, presents great productivity at low cost in Brazil and, due to its greater polarity, can make it feasible to obtain oils enriched in nutraceutical compounds. However, some restrictions limit the industrialization of vegetable oil extraction with ethanol, because ethanol, compared to hexane, presents lower selectivity to triacylglycerols, higher cost of recovery for reuse in the process, and lower solubilization capacity of the oil. This last disadvantage implies the use of larger amounts of ethanol, when compared to hexane, to extract the same amount of vegetable oil from a solid matrix. The required flow rate of ethanol is about 280 % higher than the hexane flow rate, which may compromise the feasibility of the oil extraction process with the alternative renewable solvent. In this context, this undergraduate research project aims to evaluate the use of different compounds (fatty esters, fatty acids, and long-chain alcohols, among others) as co-solvents of ethanol aiming to increase the solubility of lipids. The mixed solvents (ethanol + co-solvent) will be evaluated in the extraction of oil from soybean collets, monitoring the extraction yield, the oil partitioning between extract and raffinate phases, and the nitrogen solubility index of the defatted protein fraction.(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)

BARBOSA, FLAVIA DA SILVA; CAPELLINI, MARIA CAROLINA; RODRIGUES SOUZA, ISABELA CECILIA; ARACAVA, KEILA KAZUE; BASSO, RODRIGO CORREA; RODRIGUES, CHRISTIANNE E. C.. Assessment of the effects of collets moisture and addition of ethyl esters on the ethanolic extraction of soybean oil. Journal of Food Engineering, v. 348, p. 11-pg., 2023-02-10. (14/21252-0, 18/12713-5, 22/02434-7)