A Sustainable Route to Functional Food Ingredients

The aim was to perform vegetable oil extraction using high-pressure equipment, optimizing quality and yield, and to promote the application in food products as chocolate. A project was developed for the extraction of vegetable oil from upcycled food materials, with the use of High Pressure Parr Reactor-4520, working pressure 131 psi, temperature 45°C a 60°C.. Oilseed husks from Brazilian biodiversity were used. The suggested benefits are high purity and yield of the oil, no abundant chemical solvents, preservation of antioxidants and essential fatty acids. A method with ethanol co-solvent was used, known to increase yield and facilitate the extraction of bioactive compounds, especially in more resistant oilseed materials. The separation of ethanol occurred by evaporation. This process is ideal for more delicate materials or when higher solvent yield is sought. Higher temperatures increase efficiency, but intermediate ranges (40–55°C) was ideal for maintaining quality and yield and not degrading antioxidants or aromatic compounds. The lower viscosity of ethanol at elevated temperatures facilitated penetration into the shell tissues. As a conclusion, a yield of 39.5% was obtained in the extraction of the total lipid content of the raw material, which was higher than expected. The defatted residue and oil can be reused and used for application in food formulations such as chocolate, with proven sensory acceptance.