Effect of moisture and oil content in the supercritical CO2 defatting of Hermetia illucens larvae

This article belongs to the Special Issue The Use of Green Solvents and Compressed Fluid Extraction Technologies in Food Science.

The supercritical defatting of H. illucens was scaled up at 450 bar and 60 °C from a 270 cm3 extraction cell to a vessel five times larger. Then, eight different H. illucens larvae batches, with variable content of oil (16.80–29.17% w/w) and moisture (4.45–15.95% w/w) were defatted. The effect of these parameters on yield and oil composition was analyzed. The presence of moisture in the larvae batch, in the range of the values studied, had no negative effect on the oil recovery efficiency, which was mainly determined by the initial content of oil in the larvae samples. Furthermore, no differences were determined in the fatty acid profile of the oils recovered, which were rich in saturated fatty acids, mainly lauric acid (ca. 50% w/w). Minor lipids, such as squalene and phytosterols, were determined in all the oil samples. The moisture content in the oils extracted was in the range of 0.118–1.706% w/w. Therefore, some samples exceeded the limits recommended for volatile matter in edible fats and oils (0.2%, including moisture). Yet, concerning the oil peroxide index, values were much lower than those corresponding to the oil extracted using hexane.

This research was funded by the Spanish National Plans of Aquaculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, project ACUINSECT (Optimization of insect flours as sustainable ingredient for aquaculture feed). D. Villanueva-Bermejo gratefully acknowledges the Juan de la Cierva Incorporación fellowship (IJC2019-041104-I) provided by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain. D. Martín Hernández is thankful for his technician position (PTA2021-020161-I), funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Social Fund Plus.

Peer reviewed