Supercritical concentration of ethyl laurate from coconut oil

Countercurrent extractions with supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO 2 ) were carried out to fractionate ethyl laurate (EL) from a fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) mixture obtained by ethanolysis of coconut oil. The effect of pressure (9-14 MPa), temperature (40-70 °C) and CO 2 flow rate (30-70 g/min) on the purity of ethyl laurate (EL-P) and long-chain saturated fatty acid ethyl esters (LCSFA-P) were investigated and modeled by Response Surface Methodology. Pressure had a positive effect on both responses. Higher temperatures led to larger EL-P, but lower LCSFA-P in the extracts. SCCO 2 flow rate was only significant for EL-P and there was an interaction effect with temperature (highest EL-P achieved at the highest temperature and flow rate). The optimum experimental condition to reach a high EL-P and low LCSFA-P was 13 MPa, 70 °C and 70 g/min. The experimental EL-P and LCSFA-P achieved at that condition was 59.6% and 14.2%, respectively. The use of SCCO 2 in a countercurrent column demonstrated to be a suitable technique that allowed obtaining an extract with an EL-P 20% higher (enrichment factor of 1.2) and a LCSFA-P 50% lower than those of the coconut oil used as feed. In addition, an EL recovery of 83.9% was achieved. • The fractionation of ethyl laurate from coconut oil was studied using SCCO 2 • The effect of pressure, temperature and flow rate was evaluated and optimized by RSM • An oil with an ethyl laurate purity of 59.6% and 83.9% recovery was obtained • The concentration of long-chain saturated fatty acids was reduced by 50% in the oil • The model predicted well the fractionation process