Dados do Trabalho

Título

EXTRACTION OF OIL FROM THE TUCUMÃ-DO-AMAZONAS (ASTROCARYUM ACULEATUM) PEEL USING SUPERCRITICAL CO2

Introdução

The tucumã-do-Amazonas (Astrocaryum aculeatum) is a fruit found especially in the Amazon region, whose pulp is much appreciated by the local population and consumed fresh. Consumption of the pulp, which is the most used part of the fruit, generates waste such as the kernel and the peel, which have a high content of oil, protein and an intense orange color. The aim of this work was to extract the oil from the peel of the tucumã-do-Amazonas using supercritical carbon dioxide (SFE - Supercritical Fluid Extraction), a clean and sustainable method that does not require toxic solvents.

Material e Métodos

The peels were dried and crushed, then applied to the SFE at different pressures (15, 25 and 35 MPa) and temperatures (40, 50 and 60 °C). The global yield in each condition was calculated as the ratio between the mass of extract obtained and the mass of sample used. SFE curves were constructed, representing the global yield as a function of time, to evaluate the mass transfer mechanisms of the process and the three-line Spline kinetic model was applied to model these curves. The SFE residue cake was evaluated for its protein content before and after the process.

Resultados e Discussão

The global yields did not differ significantly (p ≤ 0.05) at pressures of 25 and 35 MPa, but the yield was lower at a pressure of 15 MPa. Applying the Spline model, it was found that times between 30 and 40 minutes are sufficient to recover 95% of the oil from the tucumã-do-Amazonas peel under conditions using pressures of 25 and 35 MPa. As for the protein content, an increase of approximately 30% was observed when pressures of 35 MPa were applied.

Conclusão

The tucumã-do-Amazonas peel is a source of oil that can be obtained through the application of SFE, whose application of a kinetic model allowed us to define that pressures of 25 and 35 MPa and times between 30 and 40 minutes can be used to recover the oil and thus favor the concentration of proteins after oil extraction.