LAUSR

Abstract The objective of this study was to find the optimal condition for the extraction of rubber seed oil (RSO), using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME). Response surface methodology with a spherical central composite design model was employed to determine the optimal extraction condition, consisting of a seed moisture content (%wt), a solvent to solid ratio (g/g), and an extraction temperature (°C). A quadratic regression equation suggested the optimal extraction condition was a moisture content of 56.4%wt, a solvent to solid ratio of 6.7 (g/g), and a temperature of 33.3 °C. At this condition, the RSO yield predicted by the model gave a slight deviation of 0.68% from the experimentally validated results (41.48 versus 41.20%). RSO has a kinematic viscosity of 36.8 cSt, an acid value of 10.7 KOH/g oil, a fatty acid content of 5.1% and an unsaturated fatty acid content of 80%, resulting in the potential production of biodiesel, biolubricants, and biodegradable plastics.