INFORM April 2026

32 INFORM APRIL 2026 , VOL. 37, NO. 4

ECO-EXTRACTION FOR OILSEEDS: NO LONGER AN ALTERNATIVE, BUT A VIABLE INDUSTRIAL OPTION

Julie Ducreux

Progressive scale-up transformed Ecomeo (2-MeOx) from a promising solvent into an industrially viable process. Ecomeo goes beyond solvent substitution and unlocks new process and product design possibilities. Industrially, water management has become a powerful optimization lever, improving robustness with better tolerance to raw material variability.

This article describes the scale-up trajectory of Ecomeo, from early laboratory and industrial demonstrations to a deliberate semi-industrial scale-down aimed at process optimization. Focusing on a counter current extraction study , it examines how replacing hexane with 2-MeOx affects extraction yield, product quality, kinetics, and operational robustness. Attention is given to solvent water management, which emerges as a key operating parameter, reshaping both process design and industrial practice beyond simple solvent substitution. ECOMEO Ecomeo is the trade name used by Ecoxtract for its food-grade 2-methyloxolane (2-MeOx), a biobased solvent produced from agricultural byproducts. In Europe, regulators evaluated 2-MeOx for use in food-related applications. Ecomeo is supported by an extensive toxicological data package covering human, environmental, and animal health. In addition, Ecomeo is listed as an approved solvent under the COSMOS standard for cosmetic ingredient manufacturing.

2-MeOx is already being produced at industrial scale by multiple suppliers and is widely used in pharmaceutical manufacturing. From a technical standpoint, process parameters need to be adapted for 2-MeOx use in extraction plants due to some key differences with hexane. It has a higher boiling point (approximately 80 °C) and higher density than hexane, in addition to partial miscibility with water and a different polarity profile. These properties affect the solvent oil-matrix interactions, leading to unique extraction properties. On the process side, Ecomeo is used with the same unit operations as hexane. As a result, existing hexane plants can be retrofitted rather than fully redesigned, provided that operating conditions are adapted. ECOXTRACT SCALE-UP STORY The Ecoxtract project began in 2017, after a doctoral research project conducted between 2012 and 2016 assessed the feasibility of several biobased solvents for lipophilic extraction. The project started with an extensive phase of