Supercritical Fluids Extraction of Fatty Acids from Spent Coffee Grounds

Nowadays, the better utilization of wastes from different technological productions is a key factor for the economical and the environmental issues. The easiest solution is often the choice of their incineration in order to produce energy. Among the others special focus is spent to wastes derived from food and beverage industries. Looking at the amount of the treated material the coffee production is situated at the same level as the steel and oil industries. For that reason the possible reutilization of several wastes produced during the different treatments of the coffee beans, starting from the plants until the final cup of coffee, is very important. The aim of this work is the application of supercritical fluid extraction technique for the recovery of lipids from spent coffee grounds. Pressure, temperature and extraction time are considered in order to evaluate the influence of such parameters on the oily fraction yield. The results indicate that the extraction pressure is the most important parameter affecting the process. A good quality characterization of the extracts is presented in order to verify their possible utilization in the fine and cosmetic industries. These results are compared with those obtained using conventional methodology based on solvent extraction.