A solvent extractor system for the rapid extraction of lipids and trace bioactive micronutrients in oilseeds

A low-cost laboratory extractor has been designed and constructed that selectively extracts polar and nonpolar components from oilseeds and other matrices. The extractor uses available high-performance liquid chromatography laboratory equipment for pumping the solvent into the extractor. Pressure, temperature, and valving arrangements are automatically controlled by commercially available components. Advantages of this system include low initial investment, reduced solvent consumption, shorter extraction times, quantitative lipid recovery, use of multiple extraction solvents, and reduction in cost per sample. The method has broader applications that include extraction of trace components from a variety of matrices, for example, the extraction of pesticides from foods and polychlorobiphenyls from soil. Class separation of components from different matrices can be achieved easily by selection of solvents with the appropriate polarity characteristics. Very small samples can be extracted simply by changing cell size or by adding an inert material to the cell to fill the void volume. Analyte collection can be accomplished by collecting in a test tube with an appropriate solvent, or on a solid-phase material. Optimization of extraction times, number of extractions, matrices, and solvent used is described. Neutral lipids were extracted from peanut meal in 70 min by the rapid extraction method compared to 1440 min required to extract the comparable amount of neutral lipids from a similar sample by the Soxhlet extraction method.