Sacha inchi oil (SIO) extraction has been extensively studied using various oil extraction techniques to achieve a high oil recovery. However, most studies relied on heat-based methods, which led to compromised oil quality and reduced nutritional values, particularly polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6), vitamin E, and phenolic compounds. To address these concerns, this study employed a hydraulic cold-pressed extraction (HCPE) technique for extracting SIO aiming to enhance oil yield while preserving its nutritional integrity. During the HCPE process of sacha inchi seeds (SIS), conducted at a constant temperature of 25 ± 1 °C, pressures and pressing times were varied within the range of 30–50 MPa and 10–30 min, respectively, to determine their impact on SIO yields. The results revealed that both pressure and pressing time significantly influenced the yields of SIO (p < 0.05), with the highest oil recovery of 86.31 wt.% on a wet basis achieved at 50 MPa for 30 min. Regarding physicochemical properties, the peroxide values (5.71–9.07 meq/kg), iodine values (176.22–197.76 g I₂/100 g), acid values (1.82–2.16 mg KOH/g), and percentage of free fatty acids (0.91–1.08 wt.% as oleic acid) were found to be influenced by pressure and pressing time (p < 0.05). Additionally, the color variation by L* (34.22–35.17), −a* (0.39–0.81), and b* (3.48–5.62) changed with each oil yield. Notably, the high iodine value in SIO indicated a substantial content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, including omega-3 (40.86%), omega-6 (40.87%), and omega-9 (10.20%). Furthermore, a comparison with solvent extraction methods demonstrated that HCPE exhibited similar efficiency in extracting SIO, offering additional advantage in terms of its cold-pressed condition, eliminating of solvent use, simplicity, short extraction time, and higher oil recovery.

The conventional solvent extraction (CSE) method is commonly used to extract oil from oilseeds. Even though the extraction of oil from soybean seeds using the CSE method has been studied extensively, the application of response surface methodology (RSM) has not yet been widely explored. In this paper, the CSE method was employed using three different types of solvents – ethanol (Eth), n-hexane (Hex), and a mixture of Hex:Eth in a ratio of 2:1 – and optimized using RSM to extract the oil from Cambodian soybean seeds. For each solvent, a central composite design (CCD) was applied to optimize the extraction conditions, such as the extraction times (15, 30, and 45 min) and solvent-to-solid ratios (5:1, 10:1, and 15:1 mL/g). This CCD generated 11 experimental runs for each type of solvent. The optimum oil yields when using ethanol, Hex:Eth, and n-hexane were 20.53%, 18.78%, and 17.39%, respectively. The optimum condition was obtained at 15 min extraction time and 15:1 (mL/g) solvent-to-solid ratio for all solvent types. The coefficients of determination of ethanol, Hex:Eth, and n-hexane were 0.9710, 0.9954, and 0.9263, respectively, which mathematically indicated a good model for the prediction. Therefore, the model was considered accurate and reliable for predicting oil yields in this study.

Rice is a staple crop best known for its crucial role in feeding humans. In Cambodia, the human population depends on rice as its staple food. Increased rice production results in an increase in straw residue. The extensive residue caused by straw burning significantly contributes to high concentrations of air pollution, which are associated with critical health issues. As such, our objective in this study was to assess the human health impact of rice straw production in Cambodia. In this assessment, we focused on primary and secondary fine particulate matter formation (PM_2.5, NH₃, NO_x, and SO₂) from fertilizer, combustion of fuel in rice production processing, and burning of straw. We assessed endpoint impact by the following methods: (1) We estimated the proportion of rice straw from the annual rice production of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) of Cambodia subjected to open burning in all 25 Cambodian provinces. (2) We calculated air pollutants emissions in terms of kilograms of pollutants per ton of rice produced by following the air pollutant emission inventory (EI) in the EMEP/EEA Guidebook for 2019, using data for fertilizer and fuel combustion that was applied in the field, based on a face-to-face survey of farmers. (3) We analyzed health impact in terms of DALYs using the characterization factor (CF) adapted from the ReCiPe 2016 v1.1 method. The results showed that the total health impact of rice straw production was 13,093.50 DALYs. Our analysis showed that open burning alone contributed 98.55% of the total health impact considered in this study, while fertilizers and combustion contributed only 0.12% and 1.33%, respectively. As the major of the total health impact arose from open burning, a policy of zero open burnings should be an effective way to reduce health impacts. These findings provide information for policymakers on how to alleviate air quality issues caused by the practice of open straw burning by adopting alternative techniques of rice straw management.

Protein is a substantial nutrition that essentially required by human. Spirulina platensis (Spp), well known as protein source could be a significant source to be used for many industrial applications. This study was investigated the effectiveness of ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) method for protein extraction from Spp at various composition of solvent mixture and extraction time. Ethanol and mixture of methanol-ethanol were used as solvent. Extraction was conducted by varying ratios of solvent to biomass at 10:1, 12.5:1, and 15:1 (v/w), and extraction time (20, 35, and 50 min). Optimum protein recovery from dry Spp was 42.55 ± 0.43% obtained by using 20 ml of the mixture of methanol and ethanol at 50 min of extraction time. This study also conducted that mixture of methanol and ethanol was a better solvent on improving the ultrasound assisted extraction, as indicated by high protein recovery with less amount of solvent volume used.

Soybean oil is susceptible to thermal deterioration, especially during the deep-frying process due to its high polyunsaturated fatty acids. Soybean oil has been employed to enhance the nutritional profile and thermal stability by simply blending it with other oils, including palm olein, camelia, sesame, and cashew nut oil. In particular, coconut oil is more resistant to oxidation than those oils, so adding it to soybean oil that is prone to oxidation can make the mixture more stable. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the thermal stability of soybean oil by blending it with coconut oil and evaluating the blend’s physicochemical changes during the continuous deep frying of banana chips. Refined soybean oil was blended with refined coconut oil at different ratios (% v/v), including 100:0 (A), 80:20 (B), 70:30 (C), and 60:40 (D). All the mixtures were used for continuous deep frying at a constant temperature of 180 °C. The banana chips were fried for 1 min at 5 min intervals over a total of nine batches. The findings show that changes in the physicochemical properties of the frying oils were significantly affected by the soybean oil to coconut oil ratios and the frying duration, which were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance (p < 0.05). The alteration in free fatty acids and peroxide values were found to be the lowest in treatment C, followed by D < B < A, by using a two-way analysis of variance (p < 0.05). Conversely, the highest total oxidation value was found in treatment A, followed by B > C > D. The lightness of the oil reached the highest value in the last frying cycle in treatments B and C, followed by D and A, while the color of the fried banana chips achieved the maximum value in treatment D, followed by C < B < A. In addition, the lipid content in the fried banana chips was observed to be the lowest in treatments D and C compared to B and A. This study indicated that blending highly unsaturated soybean oil with coconut oil could enhance its thermal stability. Consequentially, a 70:30 (% v/v) ratio of soybean oil with coconut oil exhibited good thermal stability during continuous deep frying. This study provides insights into an alternative blending technique for soybean and coconut oils to improve the thermal stability of frying oil during continuous deep frying.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of hydraulic pressing conditions on the extraction yields of Cambodian soybeans using hydraulic press machine. The extraction of soybean oil through hydraulic pressing is a chemical-free mechanical method that involves the compression of the soybean seeds using heat and pressure. The different pressures (30, 40, and 50 MPa) and pressing times (15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min) were performed on the extracted soybean oil yield. The physicochemical properties and fatty acid profiles of the extracted soybean oil were also analyzed. The physicochemical properties such as peroxide value, iodine value, acid value, and color were determined by AOAC methods. And the fatty acid profiles, including linoleic acid, oleic acid, linolenic acid, palmitic acid, and steric acid, were characterized by gas chromatography with a frame ionization detector. The results demonstrated that the highest yield of 12.49% was achieved at a pressure of 50 MPa and a pressing time of 60 min. The crude soybean oil obtained exhibited acceptable physicochemical quality and fatty acid profiles. The fatty acids of soybean oil were found to be rich in unsaturated fatty acids, with 52.69% of linoleic acid and 25.24% of oleic acid. However, it is important to note that this study has limitations, and further research should investigate additional factors, particularly the effect of temperature in hydraulic pressing, to optimize oil yield.