Utilization of Microwave Energy for Bio-Oil Extraction from Bauhinia Variegata Seeds: A Short-Time Technology

The oil extraction from Bauhinia variegata seeds to produce biodiesel was performed using microwave-assisted extraction. About, 9 combinations of solvents were employed, and found that hexane-acetone (80:20 mL) gave a better yield, and the maximum bio-oil yield was found to be 29.03±0.61 % at the optimal condition of 9 min of processing time with a supply of 240 W and 12 mL/g of solvent volume. The presence of functional groups in the Bauhinia variegata seed oil was identified using FT-IR analysis and the fatty acid composition was analyzed using GC-FID. The results reveal a predominant fatty acid (C18:2) present in the group was linoleic (about 43.4%). From scanning electron microscopy analysis it was observed that the microwave treatment promoted rapid extraction of oil, as a structure of raw materials was ruptured. The physicochemical properties of the oil were determined as per ASTM D6751 and found that a free fatty acids value of less than one can be directly treated for the transesterification process. The results from this study suggest that MAE is an efficient and eco-friendly method to extract oil from Bauhinia variegata seeds in bio-diesel production.