Green procedure with a green solvent for fats and oils' determination - Microwave-integrated Soxhlet using limonene followed by microwave Clevenger distillation

Here is described a green and original alternative procedure for fats and oils' determination in oleaginous seeds. Extractions were carried out using a by-product of the citrus industry as extraction solvent, namely D-limonene, instead of hazardous petroleum solvents such as n-hexane. The described method is achieved in two steps using microwave energy: at first, extractions are attained using microwave-integrated Soxhlet, followed by the elimination of the solvent from the medium using a microwave Clevenger distillation in the second step. Oils extracted from olive seeds were compared with both conventional Soxhlet and microwave-integrated Soxhlet extraction procedures performed with n-hexane in terms of qualitative and quantitative determination. No significant difference was obtained between each extract allowing us to conclude that the proposed method is effective and valuable. (C) 2008 Elsevier BY. All rights reserved.