title: Fatty acid profile and elemental content of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) oil--effect of extraction methods.
abstract: Interest in vegetable oil extracted from idioblast cells of avocado fruit is growing. In this study, five extraction methods to produce avocado oil have been compared: traditional solvent extraction using a Soxhlet or ultrasound, Soxhlet extraction combined with microwave or ultra-turrax treatment and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). Traditional Soxhlet extraction produced the most reproducible results, 64.76 ± 0.24 g oil/100 g dry weight (DW) and 63.67 ± 0.20 g oil/100 g DW for Hass and Fuerte varieties, respectively. Microwave extraction gave the highest yield of oil (69.94%) from the Hass variety. Oils from microwave extraction had the highest fatty acid content; oils from SFE had wider range of fatty acids. Oils from Fuerte variety had a higher monounsaturated: saturated FA ratio (3.45-3.70). SFE and microwave extraction produced the best quality oil, better than traditional Soxhlet extraction, with the least amount of oxidizing metals present.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Mageshni
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Roshila
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moodley
authors.forename: Sreekanth B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Jonnalagadda
mesh_terms: D005591:Chemical Fractionation / Q000379:methods*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D027421:Persea / Q000737:chemistry*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D010938:Plant Oils