Effectively improve the quality of camellia oil by the combination of supercritical fluid extraction and molecular distillation (SFE-MD)

In this study, the combination of supercritical fluid extraction and molecular distillation (SFE-MD) was used to improve the quality of camellia oil. A series of important process parameters were investigated to obtain high quality camellia oil. Compared with the camellia oil produced by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), the acid value of camellia oil obtained by SFE-MD was significantly decreased to 0.63 ± 0.01 from 2.93 ± 0.01 mg KOH/g oil, without any change of their fatty acid compositions. Furthermore, unsaponifiable matters of camellia oil such as γ-tocopherol, β-sitosterol and squalene could be effectively preserved and there were no residual harmful substances. The technology provided in this study is effective, economical and environment-friendly and could be replicated in an industrial scale.