Researchers from Malaysia performed an experiment to optimize the solvent extraction of castor oil through response surface methodology. Castor oil was extracted using solvent extraction with three different solvents: hexane, petroleum-ether and ethanol. Optimization of the percentage of oil yield was carried out using response surface methodology and Box-Behnken design.
The model equations gave good fit with appropriate coefficient of determination for the three solvents stating that response surface methodology would e suitable for optimization of percentage oil yields.