Extraction of palm oil from its palm mesocarp using sub-critical 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R134a) as an alternative solvent to supercritical CO(2) was studied. The effects of pressure, temperature, flowrate and sample pre-treatment method on extraction yield were examined. Dynamic method was used to determine palm oil solubility at flowrate between 0.5 and 5.0 ml/min. Extraction was performed at pressures between 45 and 100 bar which was lower than those required by CO(2) solvent, and at temperatures between 40 degrees and 80 degrees C. The results show that extraction yields using R134a increased with pressure and temperature, and that temperature effect (p-value = 0.0000) on palm oil solubility prevailed over that of pressure (p-value = 0.0087). The maximum yield of 66.06 w/w% was obtained at 100 bar and 80 degrees C which was the best pressure and temperature. Substantial oil yields at relatively lower pressure proved that sub-critical R134a is a viable alternative to CO(2) for extraction of palm oil. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.