Supercritical Carbon dioxide and flaxseed oil like functional food

Literature shows the functional food properties of Flaxseeds (Linum usitatissimum L.). Flaxseeds are rich in Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) and are interesting for their dietary fiber and proteins content and for the presence of helpful minor compounds, important for human consumption, like lignans, phytoestrogens that can have hormone-like effects in humans. In fact, diets introducing flaxseed oil show also useful effects on diseases like lowering blood pressure, particularly in middle age dyslipidaemia and reducing the risk of myocardial infarction. Organic solvents are generally used to obtain a high extraction yield of flaxseed oil. An alternative method is expression (mechanical extraction) that offers a remarkable reduction of environmental impact, but with lower extraction yield in comparison with solvents. Another method of extraction could be the use of supercritical fluids. The same authors already studied the Supercritical Carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) as potential solvent for flaxseed oil extraction. In this study a comparison of the technological and qualitative effects on the flaxseed oils obtained by neat SC-CO2 extraction and by SC-CO2 added with ethanol as co-solvent extraction was conducted. The extraction capacity of important polar compounds like polyphenols was determined, too. The results of this study confirm the ability of SC-CO2 in obtaining a high quality product like flaxseed oil.