Extraction of natural vitamin E from wheat germ by supercritical carbon dioxide.

An efficient supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) process with carbon dioxide (SFE-CO(2)) was developed for the extraction of natural vitamin E (V(E)) from wheat germ. Both the pretreatment of extracted wheat germ and extraction conditions were optimized to ensure maximal V(E) yield. The extraction was undertaken at the extracting pressure of 4000-5000 psi, the extracting temperature of 40-45 degrees C, and the carbon dioxide flow rate of 2.0 mL/min for 90 min. An optimized pretreatment of wheat germ was usually necessary with a particle size of 30 mesh and a moisture content of 5.1%. A yield comparison of V(E) and its isomers extracted by supercritical CO(2) with those by conventional solvent extraction suggested that this SFE process was a practical process prospectively superior to conventional solvent extraction to prepare V(E) from wheat germ.