Extraction of oil from uncrushed olives using supercritical fluid extraction method

Many countries around the world grow olive trees as olives and olive oil are considered very important food constituents. Current extraction methods are considered classical methods which mainly imply size reduction of olives, and then separation of the extracted oil. This study aimed at studying the propensity of supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) of olives from Jordan without prior size reduction (crushing). Different parameters were investigated including operating pressure, operating temperature, and extraction duration. The study involves both experimental design analysis and parameter investigation. Results have indicated that it is possible to perform SCFE of olives without any size reduction. It was found that the maximum yield obtained at the conditions of this study was 12.3 wt% while these results have shown that the most effective parameter is the extraction time, followed by the operating temperature and lastly by the operating pressure. An experimental model was developed in this study to predict the extraction yield as a function of these mentioned parameters. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.