EXTRACTION, ESTERIFICATION AND TRANSESTERIFICATION OF ISATIS TINCTORIA OIL

Abstract

Isatis Tinctoria oil is extracted using hexane and forane 113. This oil is rich in both linolenic acid (29 % of quantified fatty acids) and erucic acid (18 % of quantified fatty acids) as generally are cruciferous oils. Neutralization of free fatty acids by in situ esterification catalysed by ion-exchange resins and followed by transesterification using methanol makes of this oil a new source for fatty acids likely to be scaled up in cosmetology or lipochemistry.