Supercritical fluid extraction of triterpenes and aliphatic hydrocarbons from olive tree derivatives

Abstract

Olive leaves and tree bark were extracted through supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and the chemical composition of the extracted mixture was determined by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS). Both samples contain a great number of triterpenes as squalene, which were used since 1997 as a main constituent of the flu vaccine (FLUAD), and the alpha-tocopherol the most biologically active form of vitamin E. We also underline the presence of many aliphatic compounds such nonacosane and heptacosane in low concentrations. The extractions were carried out at 313 and 333 K, at a pressure varying from 90 to 250 bars and using pure carbon dioxide in its supercritical phase. Therefore, their solubilities at equilibrium were numerically optimized via two assumptions and compared with the experimental values. Indeed, a good agreement between several results was shown.

Keywords

• SFE
• Olive leaf
• Olive bark
• Solubility
• Optimization
• GC–MS