OPTIMISATION OF OIL EXTRACTION FROM HALOPHYTE SP. SEEDS

The present study is part of a comprehensive study dedicated to the cultivation of halophytes species on salt affected soils, aiming on new value chains development from obtained biomass. The work is conducted on the monitoring the degree of soil purification, the biomass production and seeds yield, and their chemical composition. In this context, the paper contains information related to the oil content of Portulaca saliva sp. seeds, in order to produce 2nd generation biofuels. Extraction of oil from seeds via traditional method (Saxhlet method) and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) were carried out. ASE method was applied because requires small quantities of solvent, sample and operating time. ASE appear to be the most suitable method and the optimal conditions were: pressure - 10.34 AlPa, temperature - 105 degrees C, residence time - 10 min, solvent - petroleum ether, extraction ratio of 1:40, dynamic extraction time - 30 min. and 0.3 g diatomaceous earth. The highest oil recovery achieved was 33.4%.