Physicochemical characteristics of garlic (Allium sativum L.) oil: Effect of extraction procedure

Garlic oil (GO) is behaves as a nutraceutical compound; however, its application is limited due to its pungency, undesirable aroma, low stability and solubility. The physicochemical properties of GO are certainly key parameters in the encapsulation process. Therefore, the aim of the current work was to study the effect of different extraction procedures such as solvent extraction, distillation method and supercritical fluid extraction (SCF) on the physicochemical properties of garlic oil. The yield of GO was influenced by extraction method and was approximately 5.5, 6 and 7% for steam distillation, solvent methods and SCF-Co2, respectively. The specific gravity was obtained as 0.894 g/cm 3 and independent to the extraction method, while the viscosity was changed and more viscosity was obtained by SCF-Co2. The chemical analyses revealed 2.5 as the acid value, 1.27 for free fatty acids, 1.8 as the saponificacation value and 14.5 as the iodine value of GO by SCF-Co2.The results showed that the SCF-Co2 had minor quality and nutritional loss on the GO, and could be applied for special purposes such as encapsulation of garlic oil.