Extracción y Caracterización Fisicoquímica del Aceite de la Semilla (Almendra) del Marañón (Anacardium occidentale L)

The main objective of the work presented in this paper is the evaluation of different methods for the extraction of almond oil (Anacardium occidentale L) and the characterization of its physicochemical properties. The procedure involves subjecting the sample to mechanical extraction process, or pressing and solvent extraction using two methods, immersion and immersion-percolation. The most efficient method was the immersion-percolation using n-hexane as solvent. The yield obtained is (97.78 ± 1.12)%. The fatty acid analysis by HPLC revealed high content of oleic acid (61.36%). From these results solvent extraction is recommended for the soap industry, for cosmetics and extraction by pressing in the food industry.