Ultrasound Pretreatment Combined with Supercritical CO2 Extraction of Iberis Amara Seed Oil

Ultrasound pretreatment (USP) combined with supercritical CO2 extraction (SCE) was carried out to obtain Iberis amara seed oil (IASO) in the present study. The maximal oil yield (25.28 +/- 0.39 %, w/w, dry basis) acquired by SCE from ultrasound-treated seeds with ultrasonic energy density of 1.25 W/mL during 10 min, was 28 % higher than that obtained from the untreated seeds. Furthermore, the obtained oil samples were determined for physicochemical properties, fatty acid profile, contents of various phytocompounds and antioxidant activity. The results showed that USP + SCE resulted in better oil quality, slightly enhanced the selectivity of monounsaturated fatty acids in the obtained oil, as well as improved the contents of phytocompounds and antioxidant activity of IASO samples, when compared with traditional techniques. Our study revealed that ultrasound pretreatment combined with SCE can be considered efficient and environmentally-friendly for plant oil extraction at industrial scale. Furthermore, IASO has high nutritional value. Therefore, Iberis amara seeds can potentially be used as easily available sources of natural plant oil in the pharmaceutical, biodiesel and dietary supplement industries.