TY - JOUR AU - Ferreira-Dias, Suzana AU - Valente, Dina G. AU - Abreu, José M.F. PY - 2003/12/30 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Comparison between ethanol and hexane for oil extraction from Quercus suber L. fruits JF - Grasas y Aceites JA - Grasas aceites VL - 54 IS - 4 SE - Research DO - 10.3989/gya.2003.v54.i4.225 UR - https://grasasyaceites.revistas.csic.es/index.php/grasasyaceites/article/view/225 SP - 378-383 AB - The aim of this study was to (i) evaluate the feasibility of replacing <i>n</i>-hexane with ethanol for the extraction of oil from <i>Quercus suber</i> fruits and (ii) optimize, at lab scale, sample preparation and extraction time for both solvents used (<i>n</i>-hexane <i>vs</i>. anhydrous ethanol). For both solvents, the effect of the conditioning process on extraction yield was evaluated. Therefore, a full factorial design was used as a function of four variables: dehulling (with <i>vs</i>. without husks), and thermal treatment of the crushed material (40ºC <i>vs</i>. 75ºC), at different times (5 min <i>vs</i>. 120 min) and pressures (10 kPa vs. 100 kPa). Higher oil yields were obtained with <i>n</i>-hexane when dehulled fruits were conditioned under atmospheric pressure. Better yields were obtained with <i>n</i>-hexane, when dehulled material was treated at 75ºC for 90 min. Ethanol was not adequate for oil extraction from <i>Quercus</i> fruits, since other materials rather than oil were also extracted. ER -