Assessment of avocado seeds (Persea americana) to produce bio-oil through supercritical liquefaction

Avocado (Persea americana) seeds were liquefied in supercritical ethanol and acetone with (KOH, ZnCl2) and without catalyst at various temperatures (250, 270, and 290 °C) in an autoclave under high pressure for production of bio‐oil. The effects of liquefaction parameters, such as type of solvent, temperature, and type of catalyst, on the liquefaction yields were studied. Acetone as solvent and zinc chloride as catalyst provide the optimum conditions for liquefaction. The results showed that the highest conversion (liquid + gaseous products) of 76.90 % was obtained in acetone at 290 °C with ZnCl2 (10%). The produced bio‐oils were analyzed and characterized by the methods including Elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). One hundred seventy and 195 different compounds were identified by GC‐MS in the bio‐oils obtained in acetone at 270 and 290 °C, respectively. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd