Extraction of Dairy Phospholipids Using Switchable Solvents: A Feasibility Study

A tertiary amine (N,N-dimethylcyclohexylamine, CyNMe2) was used as a switchable hydrophilicity solvent (SHS) for extracting phospholipids (PLs) from raw cream (RC), buttermilk (BM), concentrated buttermilk (CBM), and beta-serum (BS). The SHS extractions were performed with varying solvent-sample weight ratio at room temperature. The extracted PLs using CyNMe2 were recovered by bubbling CO₂ at atmospheric pressure, switching the CyNMe2 into its respective salt. For comparison, the PLs were also extracted using Folch (FE) and Mojonnier (ME) extraction. The extraction efficiency of SHS varied from 0.33% to 99%, depending on the type of byproduct. The SHS extracted up to 99% of the PLs directly from BM, while only 11.37% ± 0.57% and 2.66% ± 0.56% of the PLs were extracted with FE and ME, respectively. These results demonstrate the applicability of SHS for the extraction of PLs from dairy byproducts.