Wheat germ oil is a type of grain germ oil produced from wheat sprouts. It contains the nutritional essence of wheat and is rich in vitamins E, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, octacosanol, and various physiological active components, making it a valuable functional food with high nutritional value. Particularly, it has the highest vitamin E content among vegetable oils and is recognized for its nutritional and health benefits. It helps regulate endocrine function, aid in weight loss, prevent freckles, dark spots, and pigmentation; has antioxidant properties, reduces the formation of peroxidized lipids, promotes skin hydration, and delays aging; promotes metabolism and skin renewal, anti-wrinkle, prevents skin aging, and eliminates scars; and helps regulate blood lipids, soften blood vessels, and prevent arteriosclerosis, hypertension, and stroke.

I. Pressing Method

The oil content in wheat germ is 7-9%, and pressing can extract 4-5% of wheat germ crude oil. The actual yield of refined wheat germ oil is even lower. Firstly, the processing cost is extremely high, lacking competitive advantage. Secondly, this method involves a waste of resources.

II. Extraction Method

1. Supercritical CO2 Extraction

This extraction method is low-temperature processing, which can extract high-quality wheat germ oil with no solvent residue. However, the initial investment in equipment is large because the extraction is performed under high pressure, with a small extraction pot volume (typically 1000 liters), limited production capacity, and high costs.

2. Atmospheric Solvent (N-hexane or other liquid solvents) Extraction

This extraction method involves high temperatures during processing, which can damage the nutritional components of the extracted wheat germ oil, resulting in high solvent residue.

3. N-butane Low-temperature Extraction

This method involves low-temperature processing throughout the production process, preserving the nutritional components of the wheat germ oil, with high yield and good oil quality. The quality can match that of CO2 supercritical extraction.

It can form large-scale production, with a low initial investment in fixed assets, low production costs, and environmentally friendly energy-saving features.