Quantitative extraction of pecan oil from small samples with supercritical carbon dioxide

A procedure to determine total oil content of pecan was developed for samples weighing 500 and 10 mg by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with carbon dioxide as the extraction solvent, and chilled hexane as the trapping solvent. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were prepared from the total lipid fraction by using either an aliquot (500 mg starting weight) or the entire extract (10 mg starting weight). Total oil content obtained for either sample size with SFE was similar to that obtained with an organic solvent extraction technique. The fatty acid composition for the total lipid fraction of oils extracted with SFE was the same as for oils extracted with organic solvents, and oil composition did not change during SFE. Both oil yield and fatty acid composition were similar to those reported previously for pecan. Samples could be extracted and placed into FAME-derivatizing reagents in one day, and fatty acid composition of the total lipid fraction could be determined by gas-liquid chromatography the next day. The procedure, as demonstrated for pecan, should be suitable for other oilseeds, especially those containing low amounts of water.