Supercritical CO2 extraction of lyophilized Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) pulp oil from three municipalities in the state of Pará, Brazil

Abstract In this work supercritical CO 2 was applied to extract lyophilized acai ( Euterpe oleracea ) pulps (LAP) oil from three municipalities in the state of Para, Brazil: Anajas, Chaves, and Saraca to evaluate the effects of temperature, pressure, and geographically localization on the global yield and fatty acid composition. The operational conditions were: 50 °C/350 bar, 60 °C/420, and 70 °C/490 bar. The bioactive compounds contents present in the pulp before and after the extraction were determinate. The highest yields (57.06%) were obtained of LAP oil from Chaves.The effect on fatty acid composition of LAP oil was more accentuated by geographically location than CO 2 -SE operating conditions. The triacylglycerols (TAGs) composition of the acai oil samples were predicted based on the fatty acid profile. The main TAGs predicted, representing more than 85% of the total composition, are OOO, POO, OLiO, PLiO and POP. The solubility values of acai oil predicted applying the Peng-Robinson equation of state at the same operating conditions of global yield experiments showed the same behavior of the global yields that increases as pressure and temperature increases. After the extractions, there was an increase of bioactive compounds concentrations and antioxidant capacity in the acai lyophilized pulp from all municipalities.