Rana chensinensis ovum oil (RCOO) is an emerging source of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), but it is lacking in green and efficient extraction methods. In this work, using the response surface strategy, we developed a green and efficient CO2 supercritical fluid extraction (CO2-SFE) technology for RCOO. The response surface methodology (RSM), based on the Box-Behnken Design (BBD), was used to investigate the influence of four independent factors (pressure, flow, temperature, and time) on the yield of RCOO in the CO2-SFE process, and UPLC-ESI-Q-TOP-MS and HPLC were used to identify and analyze the principal UFA components of RCOO. According to the BBD response surface model, the optimal CO2-SFE condition of RCOO was pressure 29 MPa, flow 82 L/h, temperature 50 °C, and time 132 min, and the corresponding predicted optimal yield was 13.61%. The actual optimal yield obtained from the model verification was 13.29 ± 0.37%, and the average error with the predicted value was 0.38 ± 0.27%. The six principal UFAs identified in RCOO included eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), α-linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (ARA), linoleic acid (LA), and oleic acid (OA), which were important biologically active ingredients in RCOO. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the yield of these UFAs was closely related to the yield of RCOO (the correlation coefficients were greater than 0.9). Therefore, under optimal conditions, the yield of RCOO and principal UFAs always reached the optimal value at the same time. Based on the above results, this work realized the optimization of CO2-SFE green extraction process and the confirmation of principal bioactive ingredients of the extract, which laid a foundation for the green production of RCOO.
Keywords: Box–Behnken design; Rana chensinensis ovum oil; by-product; design of experiment; response surface methodology; supercritical fluid extraction; unsaturated fatty acids.