Recovery of Moringa oleifera Oil from Seed Cake by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction

Commercial Moringa oleifera seed oil has been currently produced via mechanical extraction using a screw press machine. Approximately 30 % wt. of the residue oil remains in the seed cake. Thus, this study aims to examine the effects of pressure and solvent-to-feed (S/F) ratio on the supercritical CO2 extraction of seed cake obtained from mechanical extraction. The antioxidant activities of extracted oil were determined using the standard in vitro biological assays. The supercritical CO2 extraction duration of seed cake is shortened because the mechanical extraction reduces oil content before performing supercritical CO2 extraction. At 50 degrees C and 30.0 MPa, S/F ratios of 0.4 /min and 1.0 /min have corresponded to an extraction duration of 300 min and 180 min, respectively. Up to 90 %wt. of the oil content in the seed cake can be recovered at 30.0 MPa, 50 degrees C, and after 200 min of extraction duration. Regardless of the extraction pressure, the antioxidant activities of M. oleifera seed oil were maximized at 60 degrees C.