Evaluation of the novel Soxflo technique for rapid extraction of crude fatin foods and animal feeds

The new Soxflo instrument was evaluated for the determination of crude fat in foods and animal feeds, Samples are packed into small columns and extrac ted with petroleum ether at room temperature. The Soxflo yielded accurate d ata from foods, ranging from 0.4 to 73.2% crude fat, compared with Soxhlet extractions and Certified Reference Materials, for which recoveries average d 99.7 and 100.7%, respectively. Relative standard deviations (1.81%) were approximately half those of Soxhlet extractions (3.68%), Regression analysi s of the data suggested that there was no proportional bias. A small but ac ceptable constant bias was measured. Soxflo extractions are easy to perform and take approximately 1 h to complete. The main difference between the So xflo and Soxhlet techniques lies in the extraction procedure. Estimated sav ings during extractions are in time (85% reduction), energy (95%), cooling water (100%), and solvents (50%), Soxflo extractions are, therefore, more e nvironmentally friendly than Soxhlet extractions.