Researchers in the University of Arkansas’ Department of Food Science have developed a method extract high-value phenolic compounds from rice husk using supercritical carbon dioxide (sc–CO2) technology. Rice husk, a rice processing byproduct generated in large quantities (~20% of the grain weight), creates a major disposal problem for the rice industry.
The results obtained from various extraction conditions were investigated. The key variables were temperature (40 and 60◦C), pressure (30 and 40 MPa), and ethanol concentration (15 and 25%, w/ w). The effects of these conditions on the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activity (AA) were determined. The optimal conditions yielding the highest TPC, TFC, and AA were achieved at 30 MPa (4350 psi), 60C, and 25% ethanol-water (50%, v/v), and a cosolvent mixture of 1.29 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g, 0.40 mg catechin equivalent (CE)/g, and 0.23 mg Trolox equivalent (TE)/g. In addition, ethanol-water-modified SC-CO2 increased rice husk’s porosity, which could be a potential pretreatment to enhance cellulose extraction.
The SFT-120 SFE, along with the Nex10 CO2 Pump, provides these capabilities in an affordable, easy to use extraction system, ideal for this type of exploratory research. It offers interchangeable vessels ranging in size from 5 ml to 1000 ml, direct contact vessel heaters, and an integrated pre-heater for rapid warm up and precise temperature control. A thermocouple though the vessel wall into vessel interior provides precise measurement of fluid temperature. Quick disconnects for the heaters and the thermocouple make changing vessels fast and easy. The Nex10 high pressure liquid CO2 pump is a robust, high performance, pneumatically driven piston pump that takes liquid CO2 from tank pressure (800-900 psi) up to 10,000 psi (68.9 MPa) at flow rates up to 50 ml/min.
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1. “Extraction of phenolic compounds from rice husk via ethanol-water-modified supercritical carbon dioxide” Sumanjot Kaur a, Ali Ubeyitogullari a,b,* a Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72704, USA b Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA
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