Supercritical fluid extraction of lipids from deep-fried food products

A supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) method is described for extracting lipids from fried-food samples. Response surface analysis was used to study the effects of variables, including pressure, temperature, flow rate, and modifier (methanol) on lipid extraction by SFE. The analysis of variance for the response variables indicated that the models developed were satisfactory with coefficients of determination of 0.95 and 0.92 for chicken nuggets and potato fries, respectively. The models predicted that increasing the pressure increased the percentage lipid extracted for both chicken nuggets and potato fries. In addition, the pressure by temperature interactions were significant for chicken nuggets and potato fries. Slight differences in fatty acid composition were observed between SFE and the Goldfisch method. The SF extracts contained traces of C_12:0, C_20:0, and C_24:0 in chicken nuggets and C_14:1, C_18:3, C_22:0, and C_23:0 in potato fries, respectively, which are not found in the Goldfisch extracts. The optimal conditions for extraction are: 53 MPa, 150°C, 4 mL/min, and 10% modifier for chicken nuggets and 53 MPa, 150°C, 3 mL/min, and 0% modifier for potato fries. To duplicate the results of exhaustive Goldfisch extraction with petroleum ether, SFE conditions of 44 MPa, 80°C, 3 mL/min, and 0% modifier were used to produce similar results for both chicken nuggets and potato fries.