All experiments were carried out in triplicate. About 5×10−3 kg
of sample (ground seeds or partially defatted cake) were loaded
into the extraction vessel and mesh six glass beads used to fill the
empty spaces in the vessel. A static period of 20 min was used to
allow contact between the samples and the supercritical solvent.
The amount of SC-CO2 was maintained constant at 400 L (0.650 kg
approximately) for all the experiments and the CO2 mass flow rate
was maintained at 4×10−5 kg/s. After extraction, all the tubing at
the end of the process linewaswashedwith n-hexane to recover the
extract deposited in it. To determine the global extraction yield (X0),
the amount of oil that could be obtained in a single extraction was
first calculated, and the ratio of the total mass of extract obtained
(extraction + cleaning process) to the initial mass of raw material
then determined (dry basis) and multiplied by 100%.