Extraction of oil from chia seeds with supercritical CO2

Chia (Salvia Hispanic, L.) is a crop that was used as food, medicine and paints by the Aztec Indians in Mexico before 1492, and now has a promissory future in several countries. Chia seeds oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly omega-3 linolenic acid (54-67%) and omega-6 linoleic acid (12-21%) which pose great benefits for human and animal health.The oil extraction from Chia seeds using supercritical CO₂ seems to be a good alternative because it operates at low temperature with good mass-transfer rates and with no solvent residual in the final product.The objective of this work is to evaluate the extraction yield of oil from chia seeds and the concentration of omega-3 and omega-6 acids using supercritical extraction with CO₂ at three pressures: 136, 272, and 408 bar, and three temperatures: 40, 60, and 80 °C.