No abstract

Porcine aortic tissue was decellularized by subcritical dimethyl ether (DME) used as an alternative to the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate. The process included three steps. For the first step, lipids were extracted from the porcine aorta using subcritical DME at 23 °C with a DME pressure of 0.56 MPa. Next, DME was evaporated from the aorta under atmospheric pressure and temperature. The second step involved DNA fragmentation by DNase, which was primarily identical to the common method. For the third step, similar to the common method, DNA fragments were removed by washing with water and ethanol. After 3 days of DNase treatment, the amount of DNA remaining in the porcine aorta was 40 ng/dry-mg, which was lower than the standard value of 50 ng/mg-dry. Hematoxylin and eosin staining showed that most cell nuclei were removed from the aorta. These results demonstrate that subcritical DME eliminates the need to utilize surfactants.

Simple and energy-saving extraction of lipids and functional substances from wet Arthrospira platensis by using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) is proposed. In the proposed method, drying of microalgae, cell wall breaking, heating for solvent evaporation is unnecessary. Direct extraction from wet A. platensis was successfully achieved. 94.2 wt% of the water in the A. platensis was removed by liquefied DME extraction and a dry residue was obtained. The amounts of carotenoid pigments extracted by liquefied DME were less than those by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction and hexane extraction. Also the amounts of carotenoid pigments extracted were smaller than those extracted with conventional solvents such as SC-CO 2 and hexane.

Most of the residues after extracting juice from the citrus fruit are discarded, although they contain valuable substances such as flavonoids and essential oils. While most of the citrus flavonoids are present in the fruit peel, various valuable substances are also contained in the leaves. Moreover, the leaves and peels of citrus plants contain a large amount of moisture; hence, dewatering is essential for extracting valuable substances. Herein, we used liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) as the extractant for dewatering and extraction of valuable substances. With this process, >70% of the water from the wet samples was removed and valuable substances were isolated from the wet samples. The properties of the original and dewatered samples and the extract were evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography. While the essential oils could be extracted, it was not possible to extract flavonoids by the liquefied DME method.

Abstract. Recently, a simple method for the extraction of lipids from wet biomass using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) without drying, cell disruption, or heating was proposed. Here, the versatility of this method was evaluated for labyrinthula Aurantiochytrium limacinum (A. limacinum). The liquefied DME was passed through the extractor that filled by A. limacinum at different time intervals. The extraction of lipids from A. limacinum of moisture-rich microorganism was successfully achieved, the yield of lipid was 46.1 wt% of the dry weight of the sample. In comparison, the yields of lipid were 21.3 wt%, 43.6 wt% and 50.7 wt% when supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2), hexane-Soxhlet and Bligh-Dyer (BD) extraction methods were applied as extractants, respectively. However, the drying and cell-disruption process were required in SCCO2, hexane-Soxhlet, and BD extraction methods.