FRACTIONATION OF STEROLS, TOCOLS AND SQUALENE IN FLAXSEED OILS UNDER THE IMPACT OF VARIABLE CONDITIONS OF SUPERCRITICAL CO2 EXTRACTION

Abstract This study analysed the impact of selected adjustable parameters in the SFE such as SC-CO2 flow rate (6-12 mL/min), temperature (40-80 °C) and extraction time (2-6 h) on the oil recovery and content and composition of tocols, sterols and squalene in flaxseed oils. To track changes in the content of individual compounds in the oil, the Box-Behnken design with RSM was employed. It was found, that the oil yield was positively correlated with the ratio of SC-CO2 to sample mass and was only slightly modified by extraction temperature variation. A low SC-CO2 flow rate and short extraction time favoured the accumulation in oil of larger amounts of β/γ tocopherols, squalene, stigmasterol and campesterol. In turn, a high SC-CO2 flow rate and long extraction resulted in the highest concentration in oil of plastochromanol-8, 25-hydroxy-24-methylcholesterol and 24-methylenecycloartanol. The concentration of β-sitosterol and cyclolanost-23-ene-3,25-diol was the highest after extraction at the highest temperature by medium extraction time.