TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE EXTRACTION OF OIL FROM APRICOT KERNELS
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE EXTRACTION OF OIL FROM APRICOT KERNELS

Summary/Abstract: Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are gaining attention as green alternatives to conventional volatile organic solvents for the extraction of natural products. Their ease of preparation from inexpensive, biodegradable components, along with low toxicity and tunable physicochemical properties, makes them promising candidates for designing eco-efficient extraction processes. In this work, four DES systems based on choline chloride (ChCl) as hydrogen bond acceptor and different hydrogen bond donors glycerol, lactic acid, acetic acid, and glucose were synthesized and evaluated as co-solvents with n-hexane for the ultrasonic-assisted extraction of oil from apricot kernels. The DESs were characterized in terms of pH, density (δ), viscosity (μ), and electrical conductivity (σ) to better understand how their physical properties influence extraction performance. Oil extraction experiments demonstrated that the DES composition and its physical properties have a marked impact on extraction efficiency. Under optimized ultrasonic conditions, the use of ChCl:AA (1:2) as a co-solvent with n-hexane yielded the highest oil recovery of 26.62%, surpassing pure n-hexane, which afforded only 24.10% under the same conditions. In contrast, ChCl:GLY (1:2), ChCl:LA (1:2), and ChCl:GLU (2:1) resulted in lower oil yields of 18.95%, 22.23%, and 13.26%, respectively. The superior performance of ChCl:AA is attributed to its combination of relatively low viscosity, and high conductivity, which collectively promote enhanced mass transfer, more efficient cell disruption, and improved solubilization of lipophilic components when assisted by ultrasonic cavitation. Overall, this study highlights the importance of tailoring the physicochemical properties of DES to maximize performance and demonstrates the potential of DES n-hexane systems as green, efficient, and scalable alternatives to conventional solvent based processes for the valorization of apricot kernel oil and other plant derived lipids

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