Obtenção de gordura das sementes de Ucuúba (Virola surinamensis) por meio de extração com CO2 em estado supercrítico: rendimento global, dados cinéticos, ácidos graxos totais e atividade antimicrobiana

Abstract

The Virola surinamensis, popularly known as ucuúba, is a typical tree found in floodplain habitats and along rivers in the Amazon region. The fat extracted from the seeds has a high melting point and is a product appreciated by the cosmetic industry. The objective of this work was to study the extraction of ucuúba seed fat using supercritical fluid and compare, in terms of process yield and composition of the extracts, with those obtained from the organic solvent extraction technique (via soxhlet). The extraction technique Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) was used because it is regarded as a clean technology, economically attractive, and environmentally safe, avoiding the consumption of large amounts of organic solvents, which are often expensive and potentially harmful. The supercritical extracts of ucuúba seeds were obtained at temperatures of 40, 60 and 80 °C, combined with a pressure of 350 bar, the solvent density varied between 789.2 and 935.6 kg / m3, and a flow of 2.7 L / min. The highest yield obtained using supercritical CO2 was 64.39% for the extraction condition of 350 bar and 80 °C. The yield for the extraction via soxhlet was 61.38%. The mass transfer models of Goto et al. (1993), Esquivel et al. (1999), Tan and Lio (1989), Barton (1991) and Martinez et al. (2003) were employed to describe the extraction kinetics using supercritical fluid. The models that best described the extraction kinetics, with low average deviations, were the models of Martinez et al. (2003) and Goto et al. (1991). The fatty acid profile analysis showed that the ucuúba fat is composed predominantly of saturated fatty acids, mainly of myristic and lauric acids. The antimicrobial activity of the fats obtained was tested on the following organisms: Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Only the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus showed zone of inhibition, ranging from 10 to 11 mm.