The supercritical fluid extraction of corn germ oil has been studied in this work. Extractions were carried
out at different pressure, temperature and flow rate to analyze the influence of these variables on the
extraction kinetics and the oil quality obtained. Extraction curves are initially linear with a slope close to
the oil solubility value in supercritical CO2. Based on these results a mathematical model was successfully
applied to describe the extraction curves. Characterization of supercritical crude corn oil was performed
by determining some physical parameters such as refraction index, density and color. Additionally, the
fatty acid composition, neutral lipids, the content of tocopherols, acid index, peroxide value, antioxidant
capacity and the oxidative stability were determined in the corn oil extracted. Fatty acid composition was
compared with that for crude germ oil and no significant differences between the oils extracted by both
methods were found. Oxidative stability test using the Rancimat showed that supercritical CO2 extracted
corn oil is less protected against oxidation than n-hexane extracted oils.
