This study examined the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) in the extraction of triglycerides from de-shelled Jatropha curcas L. seeds. A central composite response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to evaluate the effects of pressure, temperature and solvent-to-solid ratio (SSR) on total yield (TY), concentration of triglycerides (C-TG) and recovery of triglycerides (R-TG). In the experiment, SC-CO2 extraction of 15 g ground, de-shelled Jatropha seeds at a CO2 flow rate of 25 mL/min was investigated under various pressure (250-350 bar), temperature (313-333 K) and SSR (60-100) conditions. The proposed quadratic model well fitted the RSM-designed data, and the statistical analyses showed that both pressure and SSR are important parameters that will significant affect the quality of extracted oil. Under a pressure of 350 bar, a temperature of 325 K and a SSR of 82, the values of TY, C-TG and R-TG were 43.0%, 936.2 mg/g, and 98.1%, respectively. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.