3. Results and discussion
3.1. Supercritical extraction (SFE)
A typical extraction kinetic is presented in Fig. 3 (CO2
pressure: 53.8 MPa, CO2 temperature: 104 8C, CO2 flow
rate: 17 kg/h). Crude extracts obtained by SFE were
composed of three phases: an oily phase, an aqueous
phase, and a third ‘‘pasty’’ phase located at the interface of
the two previous phases (Fig. 2). The kinetics presented in
Fig. 3 is based on the total extracted masses.
Overall, extraction yields after 120 min of extraction are
comprised between 0.061 and 0.067 g extract/g dry seeds.
This range of yield, although low, is consistent with
another study reporting extraction yield in the range of
0.03 to 0.10 g/g [11]. From results presented in Fig. 3, it can
be observed a high variability over the first part of the
extraction, where the difficulty of extract recovery is
illustrated. The presence of a pasty phase in the extracts
increased its viscosity, which could explain this difficulty.
Nevertheless, the final global extraction yield is poorly
impacted. The pasty phase of the extract was supposed to
be composed of waxy compounds (of high molecular
weight) co-extracted with oil and water