The present work is a systematic approach for valorization of wine lees regarding the recovery of squalene, a bioactive lipid. Such a study is presented for the first time in literature. Separate examination of squalene content in 鈥渓ight鈥?and 鈥渉eavy鈥?lees from different vinification processes by RP-HPLC demonstrated that these waste streams can be used as a source for this lipid, despite variations due to technological or genetic effects. Next, ultrasound assisted extraction of squalene from the 鈥渋ndustrial waste鈥?(the mixture of wine lees generated from different wines) using
n-hexane was optimized with the aid of response surface methodology (independent variables: sonication duration and duty cycles). Autolysis was monitored through optical microscopy. Squalene yield (0.6 卤 0.08 g SQ/kg dry lees) was comparable to that of recently examined potential sources (0.2鈥?.35 g SQ/kg dry olive pomace and 0.06 g SQ/kg olive leaves).
Keywords:
squalene; wine lees; ultrasound assisted extraction; response surface methodology