CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seed oil is a very interesting source to provide a good equilibrium between twoessential fatty acids (linoleic and α-linolenic acid). Currently, chia seed oil is not widely used commerciallyeven though its characteristics are well-suited for industrial applications, and contribute to healthy humandiets. One of the main objectives of chia oil production involves the appropriate selection of the extractionprocess. The yield and the quality of oil are very important to determine the feasibility of commercialproduction. Chia seed oil was obtained by different extraction processes, some of them commonly usedby the oil industry (solid-liquid extraction and cold pressing) or by alternative technologies withsupercritical CO2 (SC-CO2). The aim of this work was to perform a comparative study on the oil yield, fattyacid composition and the physicochemical and quality characteristics of chia seed oils obtained bydifferent processes. The highest oil yield was 33.6% by solvent extraction (hexane). It was also possible toachieve similar values by adjusting the operating conditions (pressure, temperature and time of extraction)of the SC-CO2 process. However, the oil yield reached by pressing was about 30% lower than thoseobtained by solvent (hexane) and SC-CO2. The fatty acid composition of oils was similar for the differentprocesses, highlighting the α-linolenic (~65%) and linoleic (~20%) acids content and a low level ofsaturated acids (~9%). Furthermore, the presence of a moderate amount of bioactive agents such astocopherols, polyphenols, carotenoids and phospholipids was recorded. The quantitative composition ofthese compounds was influenced by the extraction process. Thus, chia seed oil could be used to improve the ω-6:ω-3 ratio imbalance which currently characterizes Western diets, in addition to provide othernutritional compounds of interest

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