Characterization of borage seed oil extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide.

The present work is based on a comparative study of the borage seed's oil o btained with supercritical carbon dioxide by means of the conventional extr action using hexane as a solvent. In the optimal working conditions, the re sults obtained in the extraction with carbon dioxide are comparable to thos e obtained in the extraction with hexane, although the oil's quality is hig her. Therefore, the process of supercritical extraction with carbon dioxide coul d be more effective than conventional extraction because the solvent remova l is not necessary and several steps of the oil refining process can be red uced notably.