Process optimization for the extraction of oil from Crotalaria juncea using three phase partitioning

Effects of variations in pH, temperature, concentrations of phase partitioning components etc., on extraction efficiency are investigated to achieve the highest yield. Optimization of these parameters, is also done by a four factor three level face-centered central composite (CCD) design to generate the response surfaces. The modeled optimal conditions are: Ammonium sulphate ratio 6.74% (A), t-butanol ratio 97.78% (B), pH 4.587 (C) and temperature 29.45 °C (D), with the corresponding yield being 38.005% (%m/m) as compared to the observed yield of 37.1% (%m/m). Using soxhlet extraction, the highest oil yield is found to be round 13% (%m/m) in 4 h duration; whereas the same is up to around 37% (%m/m) for the TPP based method. The highest oil yield is obtained at a temperature of 37 °C. These facts, along with simple scalable features of the method, allow us to use TPP based extraction of C. juncea oil.