Hexane, the common solvent for extraction of edible oils from seeds is no more considered safe due to the presence of solvent in oil and also solvent vapour, a hazardous air pollutant. We have carried out the experiments with bahera (Terminalia bellerica Roxb) and flax seed (Linum usitatissimum ) oil as these oils are highly used in food for their nutraceutical values. The extraction of edible oil was performed with different solvents and their azeotropic mixtures such as azeotrope solvent Ethyl acetate + water (91.53%+8.47%) and Ethanol + water (95.4% +4.4%).
Of many protic organic solvents such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol and ethyl acetate, mixture of ethanol and ethyl acetate were found to be of advantageous as organic impurities are minimum compare to absolute non-protic organic solvent extracted oil.
The oil extraction was temperature dependent. The properties such as refractive index, density, saponifiation and free fatty acid values were also affected by type of solvent used in the extraction process.