Curcumin, the major yellow-colored pigment in turmeric(Curcuma longa L.), was extracted by using supercritical carbon dioxide. Optimum extraction conditions were determined. Overall experiments were planned by central composite design and results were analyzed by response surface methodology to find effects of three independent variables, temperature(X1), co-solvent flow rate(X2) and pressure(X3) on the yield of curcumin extract(Y). Regression model optimized by response surface analysis was as follows Y = -8.581270 + 0.220770X1 + 1.176731X2 + 0.036873X3 + -0.0026816X12 - 0.013010X2X1 - 0.103353X22 + 0.000198X3X1 - 0.0000825X3X2 - 0.000096554X32. Optimum temperature, pressure and co-solvent flow rate for extracting curcumin from turmeric were 40.31oC, 3.07 ml/min and 231.59bar, respectively, and statistical maximum yield of curcumin was 1.922%.

Deacidification of waste cooking oil such as, palm oil or soybean oil, using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) extraction has been widely investigated for reusing waste cooking oil. The deacidification process using scCO2 has been carried out under various experimental conditions temperature range between 40 and 100oC, pressure range between 20 and 35 MPa, CO2 flow rate range between 10 and 40 g/min, and extraction time range from 1 to 7 hours. The purified waste oils were characterized by their acid value and peroxide value measured. The optimized conditions were deduced in this paper at the temperature of 80oC, pressure of 20 MPa, and CO2 flow rate of 40 g/min. At the optimized operating condition the peroxide value was existed between 40 and 100. Also 80% of the purified oil was recovered. The properties of the purified oil were shown as similar to those of the pure oil.