Response Surface Optimization of Nigella glandulifera Freyn Seed Oil Yield by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction was employed to extract oil from Nigella glandulifera Freyn seed in this study. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to evaluate the effects of the process parameters (pressure, temperature, and CO2 flow rate) on oil yield of N. glandulifera seed. A Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the extraction parameters. The analysis of variance indicated that the linear coefficients of pressure and CO2 flow rate, the quadratic term coefficients of pressure and temperature and the interactions between pressure and temperature, as well as temperature and CO2 flow rate, had significant effects on the oil yield (P<0.05). The optimal conditions to obtain the maximum oil yield from N. glandulifera seed were pressure 30.84 MPa, temperature 40.57°C, and CO2 flow rate 22.00 L h-1. Under these optimal conditions, the yield of oil was predicted to be 38.19%. The validation experiment results agreed with the predicted values. The fatty acid composition of N. glandulifera seed oil extracted using SC-CO2 was compared with that of oil obtained by Soxhlet method. The results showed that the fatty acid compositions of oil extracted by the two methods were similar. Identification of oil compounds with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed that the contents of unsaturated fatty acids linoleic acid (48.30%), oleic acid (22.28%) and saturated fatty acids palmitic acid (16.65%), stearic acid (4.17%) were the most abundant fatty acids in seed oil from N. glandulifera.