Several procedures for the extraction of squalene from vegetable
oils have been reported, such as molecular distillation, highspeed
counter-current chromatography and supercritical fluid
extraction [1,4–6]. Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) extraction
remains an attractive process since no additional chemicals are
involved and thermally labile compounds are not degraded due
to the mild temperatures used. Despite its advantages, the industrial
application of this process is problematic due to the extremely
similar solubilities of squalene and free fatty acids (FFA) in scCO2