Solubility of two vegetable oils in supercritical CO2

Dynamic method was applied to measure the solubility of oils from seed of R ibes nigrum (blackcurrant) and Vitis vinifera (grape-vine) in supercritical CO2 at pressures up to 29 MPa. The solubility of blackcurrant seed oil, wh ich had been refined prior to the measurement and therefore it contained on ly triglycerides, was measured at 40-60 degreesC. It was correlated with CO 2 density and temperature by adjusting the constants of Adachi-Lu equation. The obtained equation is suitable for predicting the solubility of triglyc erides of most vegetable oils. The solubility of grape seed oil, containing large percentage of free fatty acids, mono- and diglycerides, was measured at 40 degreesC. It was twice as large as the solubility of refined blackcu rrant seed oil, and it decreased after most of the free fatty acids had bee n extracted. A simplified stepwise model describing fractionation of the mi xture during the solubility measurement was derived and applied to estimate the grape seed oil solubility and its changes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.