Terpenes as Green Solvents for Extraction of Oil from Microalgae

• Main Authors: Celine Dejoye Tanzi, Maryline Abert Vian, Christian Ginies, Mohamed Elmaataoui, Farid Chemat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2012-07-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: lipid extraction; terpene solvent; <em>Chlorella vulgaris</em> Soxhlet; microalgae
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/17/7/8196

Herein is described a green and original alternative procedure for the extraction of oil from microalgae. Extractions were carried out using terpenes obtained from renewable feedstocks as alternative solvents instead of hazardous petroleum solvents such as <em>n</em>-hexane. The described method is achieved in two steps using Soxhlet extraction followed by the elimination of the solvent from the medium using Clevenger distillation in the second step. Oils extracted from microalgae were compared in terms of qualitative and quantitative determination. No significant difference was obtained between each extract, allowing us to conclude that the proposed method is green, clean and efficient.