Extracting the lipid fraction from waste bilberry seeds with a hydrofluorocarbon solvent

The consumption of vegetable oils has increased in recent years due to their nutraceutical properties. There is growing scientific research interest in the development of innovative, efficient and sustainable extraction techniques capable of separating lipid fractions from vegetal matrices. In this study, we introduce an innovative technique for extracting lipids from bilberry seeds that uses Norflurane, a hydrofluorocarbon, as the solvent under subcritical conditions. Preliminary extraction experiments were carried out using bilberry seeds in the waste material from the bilberry drupe valorization process. Different granulometric bilberry fractions were selected, suitably crushed, and sized prior to extraction. An extraction efficiency of 91% of the total lipid content was obtained for the ground fraction with grains 450−710 μm in size. The main fatty acids present in the lipid extracts were oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic acids. The ratio of unsaturated-to-saturated fatty acids was determined to be 11.63, with a ω6/ω3 ratio of 1.06.